Stopping porch pirates: Police use live cameras, GPS to stop thieves
- Police use GPS and surveillance cameras to track thieves
- Cops are also using drones to stop shoplifters
- UPS has launched AI-powered software to help prevent theft
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(NewsNation) — Porch pirates seem to be getting bolder each year and police departments are turning to technology to try to catch the thieves.
Package theft is a problem all year but it’s even worse during the holidays when the contents stolen can be even more meaningful to people.
Police across the country are fighting back against thieves who brazenly take packages from porches and stoops, even when recorded by doorbell cameras.
In Yonkers, New York, police have launched a program that has grown more complex in recent years. Officers use what is essentially a control room to watch live monitoring of bait packages they’ve put out. Using live cameras and GPS, they hope to follow thieves with surveillance cameras and make arrests.
There have been only eight cases in November, the lowest number the department has had since 2019.
Nationwide, however, porch piracy remains a big problem. According to Consumer Safety Group, 75% of Americans have had packages stolen this year, costing $6 billion in losses.
The top three cities for package theft? Residents of Seattle, Memphis and San Diego are most likely to have packages stolen.
In addition to package theft, police are also turning to tech to beat retail thieves. In Montgomery County, Maryland, police have launched a new drone program that has already helped make two shoplifting arrests since it launched in November.
Police in Nashville, Tennessee, have also used drones to arrest a shoplifter in a dark, wooded area. Police say technology is definitely making a difference in driving down these types of crimes.
“Our numbers during this time of year in previous years were staggering,” said Yonkers Det. Sgt. Frank Didomizio. “We have like a 70% decrease in December package thefts compared to last year, so it’s pretty good.”
Companies are also working to use tech to stop theft, with UPS launching software available to some retailers that uses AI and historical data to find areas most prone to porch pirates and then prompts retailers to ask consumers to pick those packages up instead.
