For porch pirates, it’s the most wonderful time of the year, Calgary police say

One in every 10 Canadians has been a victim of porch pirates, according to the Canada Safety Council.

But that number could be much higher because such crimes often go unreported.

With Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the holidays coming up soon, many consumers will be anxiously waiting for their packages to arrive.

Theresa Lyon recently placed an online order while at work and got a notification from her doorbell camera as the items arrived.

But before she could grab it, someone who appeared to be dressed just like a delivery driver walked up to her front door with another box which he dropped off, before grabbing the first package that had just been delivered and walking away with it.

“I’m still kind of irritated at how cocky he is.  He was so confident. It’s like, oh yeah, I totally belong here. Of course I belong here, I’m gonna take this package because it’s mine,” remarked Lyon as she replayed video of the theft for Global News.

“How could you do this to me,” asked Lyon.  “I’ve never had porch piracy happen to me. I mean, yeah, I know it happens, I hear about it all the time but I didn’t expect it.

Calgary police say porch piracy happens all year long, but it’s more prevalent at this time of year because of more people placing online orders for the holidays.

“It is a crime of opportunity,” said Sgt. Nick Wilshire of the Calgary police crime prevention unit.

“People see a package lying on the porch and they’ll just run up and try and grab it before somebody comes out and either collects the package or hoping that the people aren’t in there at all.”

In some cases, said Wilshire, the delivery companies have reported suspicious vehicles, believed to be thieves, following their trucks around.

For many people, says Lewis Smith of the Canada Safety Council, the thefts are more than just crimes of opportunity.

“It it goes beyond that because it’s theft from something that was on your personal property. So there’s that feeling in addition to the loss of uncertainty, of vulnerability, because we come to expect things on our property to be ours, to be protected,” said Smith.

“When someone’s coming up to our door and stealing something right off our doorstep, we feel a little vulnerable because of that.”

If you do become a victim, said Wilshire, no matter what the value of the package, report it to police.

“We need to hear about it so that we know, so that can actually be patrolling in those hot spot areas. We need to know where to go. And also when we get those calls, a lot of the questions that we ask is, is there any video?” Wilshire added.

“A lot of people have door ring bell cameras. And so when we know that we are able to gather that information, a lot of the times we’re able to get licence plates and also good descriptions of the individuals.”

Some other recommendations said Wilshire are to:

• Schedule the delivery for a time when you’re at home;
• Have a neighbour pick it up; or,
• Have the package delivered to a secure locker.

Lyon was fortunate because the she contacted her retailer and the stolen items were replaced, but admits she’s now a bit more wary.

“I watched the video so many times and I got madder and madder and madder.”

As for what was in the stolen package, only Lyon and the thief know.

“I’m still laughing about that, actually,” added Lyon.

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