Today, we sit down with Dr. Ben Stickle
to talk about the scourge of porch pirates
out there swiping our packages.
Ben is the leading authority on package theft statistics,
trends, and research.
But he doesn't keep it all academic.
Ben also works with companies and organizations
to find ways to make our deliveries and our packages safer.
In part one, we talked about who porch pirates are,
how do they operate?
What's their MO?
And today, we're going to learn
what can we do really,
to keep our packages out of the hands of porch pirates?
(upbeat music)
Do you recommend that people do report
package theft to the police, or not?
Oh, that's a hard one.
The cop inside of me says, "Yes, report it."
The other part of the cop inside of me says,
"Ah, nobody cares."
Even though, I think it's,
it's kind of, really up to your preference.
If you live in a state that is actually
tracking package theft, as in, they have a code for it.
But I highly encourage it,
just so we have some idea of how often this happens.
Because that's really important.
But I also recognize that in many, many locations,
and many jurisdictions,
it's hard enough, as you just said,
to get down to the delivery areas to receive your package,
let alone, call a police officer,
wait for them to show up,
or wait for them to call you back.
Get your receipt, send it to them,
start the investigation.
And this is even amplified,
if you think about it,
let's say you a doorbell camera of some type.
And you actually have an image of the thief,
that's really fantastic.
But, we're not really quite to what we see on TV,
as far as forensic capability
to run that through some facial recognition.
So even if you have that information,
which is very beneficial,
it can be very difficult to follow up
and actually make an arrest.
But at the same time,
and again, I experienced this
with a slightly different issue,
which is vehicle break-ins,
what I would find is that one out of,
let's just say, 20 people would call.
And I wish I had known about some of the others
happening over the last couple of days
so I could've been aware that this is an issue.
So there is value in certainly calling the police.
So they're aware that it is a problem.
Especially if they get multiple complaints
in neighborhoods,
they can actually do some type of response.
So if you're in a position where you have an opportunity,
the time, to call the police and let them know,
I think it's a good thing to do.
If it slips away, and you can't,
that's the way it rolls sometimes,
and we understand that as well.
And I'm happy to hear that,
'cause I've recommended when people have asked me,
I'm like, you're probably not gonna get anything solved.
Your hope isn't that you're gonna recover your item.
But you might give law enforcement a heads up
that this is happening in a certain area.
And then they can have eyes on that area,
and know that there's something going on here,
is being targeted,
and therefore, you might be able to prevent
others from having the same issue that you had.
Sure, and if they catch, and if you report it,
and three of your neighbors do
out of the 25 that are victims,
and they catch the person,
let's just say, for example.
Then they can potentially charge with three crimes,
rather than just one.
So there are advantages to doing that.
And not making the police go look for victims.
(Rebecca chuckling)
Which can be hard as well.
Yeah.
And is there a way to know if your state
tracks package theft, or not?
That's a very good question.
I'm actually working on some research
on that at the moment.
Not off the top of my head can I tell you.
[Rebecca] That's okay.
I think there's about seven or eight states
who passed some type of legislation about package theft.
And most of those, it's a new, separate criminal code,
as in a different statute.
And a couple, they tweaked a little bit.
Most states follow a pattern of mail theft.
And that is very specific to being a federal employee
who's delivering mail to a mailbox.
And it could include a package,
but it's also mainly has to be USPS mail.
So it doesn't include FedEx, Amazon,
UPS, things like that.
So that's one of the weaknesses of the laws
as they currently exist.
Because again, they were made for what the issue was,
which was stealing letters, and that's really shifted.
(chill music playing)
What about, what can I do to not get my packages swiped?
What can help,
the odds of me being the victim?
All right, so again,
I think this comes down to opportunity.
And a little bit of like a home risk assessment.
So more than just, have you been a victim, right?
What are the chances of you becoming a victim?
Well, receiving any package,
obviously your chance increases.
If you receive a lot of packages on a regular basis,
obviously that increases your risk.
Just as if you were worried about getting into a fight,
and you were in a location where there were lots of fights.
If you're there a lot, it's more likely to happen.
Same thing with packages.
The more that you order and have delivered to your home,
the more likely it is that you will be a victim.
We know that there's a lot more crime on streets
that have a grid system, rather than a cul-de-sac.
And we actually design neighborhoods and cul-de-sacs now
to help prevent crime.
And the reason for that, again, goes back to opportunity.
If you live on a street
that has lots of vehicular, or pedestrian traffic,
your chances of being a victim
of many different types of crime, actually increases.
I, thankfully, this wasn't a key reason I chose the house,
live near the end of a cul-de-sac.
And one thing I learned during the pandemic,
is I got really good knowing who's generally down there.
So my desk window, I can just kind of see
out of the corner of my eye, the window.
And I would be like, I don't know that car.
And I'd look to see who it was.
And that's a real thing.
So if you live on a busy street,
lots of people driving by,
there's more people who are gonna potentially see
that you have a package sitting there unattended.
And it's a little less likely
for someone to be circling the neighborhood
going down every cul-de-sac
looking for a package to steal.
So really understanding and evaluating the risks,
is very important for how you decide to respond.
As far as behavior goes,
this is a really key one sometimes.
Is what are you actually willing to do,
to try and prevent a package being stolen?
If you have a very expensive item
that you're going to purchase,
such as a tablet, or a computer, or something like that
I would highly recommend that you ship it
to somewhere where you will be,
or somewhere it is secure.
So if you have a neighbor,
a friend, or a family member nearby
who's willing to collect your packages,
that's a great option.
If you live somewhere near a parcel delivery locker system
that you pointed out,
that you can drive by, pull your phone out,
scan your barcode and retrieve your item,
if it's especially a high-value item,
that's a great way to control that.
Especially, real quick aside,
a lot of the electronics who have lithium batteries,
who are required by federal law to have a sticker,
that says as much.
And so, what we're finding out,
is a lot of thieves will walk up to a house.
And if they see an item that has a sticker,
they knew it's electronics, and so they steal it.
And you can't get around that.
That's the law.
So you have to think of things like that.
(upbeat music)
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(upbeat music)
Now, so that's a behavioral aspect.
The other behavioral aspect is just,
get your packages if you're home.
(Rebecca laughing)
I wrote a paper, a very short paper early in the pandemic
looking at package theft during the pandemic.
And I pointed out that, even though we're home more,
we're occupied.
So especially early on,
my kids were doing school in the other room.
I was on a Zoom like this.
My wife was teaching downstairs.
And we're all busy.
So yeah, I know the doorbell rang.
I know the package is there,
but I completely forgot about it.
And then my routine,
which is where I come home from work everyday,
I grab my package and go inside,
that was disrupted too.
And so I found that during the pandemic,
I left more packages overnight on my porch
than I did other times.
So just getting that package as soon as you can
is really important.
So those are some of the behavioral things.
Another, a few other ideas are again, really important.
If you are at a medium-to-low risk,
if that makes sense for package theft.
Say you live in a cul-de-sac,
and you're like 50 feet off the road,
and you get two packages a week.
It might be a good idea to leave a small sign
for delivery personnel to ask them to place the package
behind a plant you have on your front porch.
Or even if you have some type of decorative box.
Even if it doesn't have a lid.
And what this does,
is it reduces, again, the opportunity.
Because no one sees the package there.
These are cheap, inexpensive,
and easy to do.
Many delivery drivers will be happy.
In fact, you may notice if you're watching,
some of mine do this anyway.
I have about a foot and a half
that extends from one side of my house,
and often the package is tucked in that corner.
I can see it from inside,
and you could see it from outside,
but it's more difficult.
That's a really good thing to do.
Now, for those who are receiving lots of packages,
for those who are at a medium-to-high risk,
or you're just wanting to make sure
that all this done above board,
I really do suggest some type of porch box
that is lockable.
So I do some work for Delivery Safe;
they make a very nice item.
Again, it's a steel box;
it's set on your front porch.
There's a code,
when you put the code in your instructions for delivery,
the delivery personnel comes,
they type in the code, the box opens,
and they close it, it locks back.
And then when you come home you get all of your items.
The advantage to that
is it solves some of the other issues we have
with that last foot of delivery.
So animals aren't gonna get in there.
It's not gonna matter if it's cold
or rainy.
It's not gonna get blown over by the wind.
And especially if you're having groceries delivered,
this one by Delivery Safe is insulated,
and you could add some cooling.
So you don't have your groceries spoil.
So if you are someone who engages
in lots of delivery,
and you have medium-to-high risk,
I highly suggest something like that.
(upbeat music)
Video cameras, Ring Doorbells, video doorbells.
We first had high hopes that this was going to be
a big deterrent,
but we capture all these videos of people going up there,
and just sneaking in and snatching the thing.
So I think it's interesting that,
again, I guess there's weird risk assessment
involved in this whole thing,
this whole package theft situation.
And I guess people just figured out,
you're probably not gonna call the cops.
You're probably not gonna recognize me.
No one else is gonna get me on their cameras,
so we can't compare things.
So, I'm just gonna pull up my hood and whatever.
And go for it, I guess.
Yeah, you know, interestingly, yes and no.
So, cameras are wonderful tools.
And we have one.
Okay, so I'm not anti-doorbell camera at all.
What I am, is again, urging people
who are listening to this, to be realistic.
If you're purchasing a camera
to prevent your package from getting stolen,
that's probably the wrong intent.
If you're purchasing your camera
to perhaps dissuade someone
from approaching your front porch,
that's the right attitude.
If you're purchasing your camera to
let your kid in when they get home from school
in the front door,
or many of the other values of that,
that's a great idea.
And it may have some ability to discourage,
especially package theft.
But unfortunately in the videos that I reviewed,
now again, my sample is biased,
because if they weren't captured on video,
then I don't know about them. [Rebecca] Right.
At least in the first.
But I think only in 5% of all crimes,
did anyone try to hide their face.
So, I was really shocked by this.
I thought, oh this will be a good variable
to search for them, we were looking at all these videos.
And so, only in just a few cases
did anyone put a hand in front of their face
or have a hoodie.
And we didn't really count sunglasses,
just because usually these were bright days, etc.
But we were shocked,
people didn't try to hide their faces at all.
Even the ones who looked directly at the camera.
They'd walk up, they'd look at it.
Look at the box, they'd look back at the camera,
and walk away.
So it didn't seem to really prohibit
someone from taking it.
One of the things that I suggest is
a concept that I like to call a "security layering."
And that's the idea, again, based on your risk,
that you have multiple methods to prevent it.
So again, if you're looking for a method
to prevent package theft,
you're that medium-to-high range, like I said,
then definitely keep the package out of sight,
lock if up if you can.
A camera will help, right?
You're adding layers of protection.
It's like having a locked front door,
and maybe a deadbolt, and your regular lock,
plus a light on at night,
plus a security alarm.
When you start taking and adding things to it,
the safer that you become.
And so that's one thing that I suggest.
If you think you're really gonna have an issue
with package theft, or you have,
start thinking about all the things that you can do
to make sure that you're getting the best effect
on those devices and technology.
Some of our favorite doorbell cameras
like Vivint Home Security Company,
just last year, I think it was,
released a standalone doorbell.
So you don't have to the whole system.
And it hoots at the person.
So they have a red light,
it's like, "Hey, we're watching you."
And it starts spinning,
and it's like "Whoot whoot!"
And like it chirps at them.
And the videos that Vivint shows you, of course,
people are just scrambling and startled.
Do you think getting those extra features, too,
doorbell cameras helps in that potential dissuading?
I think so.
I've seen those commercials as well.
I've not tested one.
And I've not seen data on those.
But again, looking at what we know about other crimes.
So originally, I think, when cameras
started becoming popular,
and I'm talking like 15, 20 years ago,
they were seen as like a guardian.
So when we talk about guardianship in criminology,
we're talking about something, or someone,
who's kind of like watching.
It doesn't have to be an armed guard;
it can be anyone.
A neighbor looking out their window
is considered a guardian
and tends to dissuade crime.
I tend to think, and this is my personal thought,
but over time, cameras are everywhere.
They're so ubiquitous, they're so used,
and we all just ignore them.
I remember some cities,
they used to have flashing blue lights on them.
They'd put a camera up in a neighborhood,
and now there's 50 cameras in that neighborhood,
and no one knows or cares.
So I think moving the camera from
being just, well, it's there, I ignore it,
to then, some type of actual guardianship.
Even if it's artificial intelligence.
And so, I wanted to look at some of those products,
because I've been curious how they work.
Is it just if someone walks up?
Does it make a difference if they run?
Does it make a difference,
can it tell if there's a package on your porch,
and then, if that package is moved,
then it sets an alarm off?
If it does those things, even artificially,
it gives the appearance
as though someone is actively watching,
I think has the potential to really dissuade
some level of crime.
The only challenge to this is,
again, going back to the original study,
I think it was 70% to 75% of people
just casually walked up to the door,
picked up the package, and then they ran away.
So they were very slow, leisurely to walk up,
and then quick to exit.
So again, this is where you have to kind of marry,
at least I hope,
research,
policing, crime prevention with technology.
Because if they're waiting for an A.I.
to say, set an alarm if someone runs up,
you're gonna miss a lot of crime.
So how do you get that in-between?
So there's lots of questions there.
I think there's good opportunities in the future
to develop these technologies and these skills
to make it more than just a passive, here's a camera,
and to make it interactive.
(upbeat music)
Thanks again, to Dr. Ben Stickle,
for sitting down with us,
and helping us get a handle
on what porch pirates are up to,
and how we can all steer clear of them.
You can get more from him on his website,
which is linked below.
And we've got more videos right here
about how to thwart porch pirates,
and what you can do if you actually do end up
getting one of your packages swiped.
You can also read all the specifics
on how to make a claim with different carriers
in our complete guide on SafeWise.com.
And to make sure that you never miss a new video
or another awesome safety chat like this one,
be sure to subscribe to our channel
and like this video.
Until next time,
keep those packages out of sight, and stay safe.
(chill zen music)