COPS in one US town have implemented an anti-theft measure to prevent porch pirates from swiping packages ahead of Christmas.
Police in Campbell, California, about 50 miles southeast of San Francisco, have begun putting GPS tracking devices on packages.
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“We came up with a plan to put a small GPS device on packages,” Campbell police Captain Ian White told local NBC affiliate KNTV.
“At the time we’d seen an uptick in package thefts.”
They’ve implemented a package decoy program, which helped them catch criminals, or porch pirates as they’ve been deemed.
Porch pirates is the term given to people who steal packages from front stoops.
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Often they’re caught on home surveillance cameras, which helps police track them down.
The use of GPS devices is another anti-theft tactic police have taken to try to put a stop to the stealing.
Police wouldn’t confirm with KNTV the number of GPS devices they’ve used.
Still, word of the program has been enough to detract potential thieves.
“Don’t come to Campbell and take our packages,” White said.
“It might be one of ours.”
More than 44 million Americans have had packages stolen during the last three months, according to Security.org.
Police advise having your packages delivered to a neighbor’s house or post office box if you know you won’t be home at the time of delivery.
Retailers like Amazon offer shoppers the option to provide delivery drivers with specific instructions to keep packages out of plain sight.
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