Ashland Police Looking For Package Thieves Caught On Camera
ASHLAND, Ore. — The Ashland Oregon Police are looking for two suspects caught on camera taking someone’s packages in Ashland yesterday.
Porch Pirates Caught On Camera: Do You Recognize These People?
The Ashland Police Department asked the public to help find the porch pirates pictured in their FaceBook post by sending a message or calling 541-488-2211 using case number 24-2172 as a reference.
Package Thefts Increasing
A porch pirate- a man or woman who preys on parcels and steals them from homes, cost an estimated $9 billion annually. In 2023, almost 40 percent of Americans had a total of 115 million packages stolen from them.
Only shopping has seen sales of $1.7 trillion online since 2020 with 75% of Americans having at least one package a week delivered and 22% report receiving daily deliveries.
Porch piracy peaked during the pandemic when shopping shifted to online stores.
While nobody likes being robbed, many online retailers will offer customers a replacement or refund when theft is reported. There are some things that can be done to prevent porch pirates:
- Be especially careful over holiday seasons: Porch piracy tends to increase during the holiday season.
- Install security cameras: Package theft still happens when cameras are installed but the rates decrease significantly decrease.
- Package tracking: Suppliers have different delivery protocols in place. Some have an electronic tracking feature and others offer a view of the delivery journey in real time.
- Schedule deliveries: The USPS allows a hold up to 30 days and other couriers allow package rescheduling or collection from a central point.
- Require a signature: This can only work if you know you will be home.
- Have packages delivered to a P.O. Box: Many couriers offer a locker service.
- Purchase insurance: Especially if it is an expensive item like a computer or iPhone, it’s worh paying a little more.