Porch Pirates

Nathan said:
The only feature of a security system that I feel does any good is sensors that set off a loud siren, the louder the better. Makes the burglar more nervous, and draws attention to the break-in.
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Once a year, or more often if you call them and ask for it, ADT will call and ask if you want a siren check that they can activate from their facility out of state. I'm hard of hearing enough that I wear hearing aids but when the siren goes off it will drive a person crazy in short order.......I learned after the first siren check years ago to put on the ear muffs that I wear when I go to the shooting range just before it goes off.
 

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debodun said:
I am surprised people are willing to take the risk of theft with all the electronic video surveillance gadgets available now.
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hollydolly said:
This is what surprised us.....nay.. shocked us, that our Video Ring doorbell was /is clearly visible .. yet the Wine nicker, clearly wasn't concerned...

His booze addiction or his penchant for theft clearly over-rode any concerns he might be seen.. or perhaps he didn't know we'd go to the lengths we did to have him caught, or cared less if he got caught.. being the seasoned thief that he turned out to be..
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Police will "be on the lookout" for a guy on a bike matching the guy in the video, but that's it. They don't do investigations.

In my area, porch and mailbox piracy happens e-v-e-r-y day and night, and local police know these pirate's faces, where they hang out, and even where they live, but unless they happen to catch them selling drugs while holding your stolen package, or find your mail in their pocket while frisking them for weapons and drug paraphernalia, the cops don't do anything. Even if they arrest some punk for drug possession, or whatever, who also possesses your mail or a few people's packages, they don't charge him/her with mail tampering or package theft. I don't know why. Maybe the charges don't exist or can't be prosecuted, or the courts just don't want the expense or bother, I don't know.

There was ONE case in Calif that got prosecuted, and that was a lady who had hundreds of people's packages in her house. Some of the delivery dates were from months ago, and a majority of the packages hadn't even been opened. She was charged with theft, but under the circumstances, her attorney tried to get her off on "mental disorder"....because she stole them but didn't even open them. 😒
 
debodun said:
I am surprised people are willing to take the risk of theft with all the electronic video surveillance gadgets available now.
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There’s no penalty even if they’re caught and they know this.

adding: usually they’re released by the end of the day, if they’re caught. Maybe the next morning. If they show up for court, the poor souls will be let off with a warning not to do this again.
 
If you get a chance, you need to watch this guy on You Tube and how he handles porch pirates.

My friend was missing his Sunday newspaper periodically and thought it wasn't being delivered. When he asked a couple of other neighbors, he found out they were experiencing the same thing, BUT not everyone was missing it on the same Sunday. After a little bit of investigation, it was learned that another neighbor way down the street was taking the newspapers while walking in the early AM and spreading the joy out on the street.

He got up and waited for the delivery for several Sundays and placed an older newspaper in the driveway as bait that had a clear powder all over it. This powder, once it made contact with skin, turned a deep purple which would not wash off. It had to wear off. Same stuff that is used in dye packs, totally harmless and legal go buy.

Needless to say, the paper theft stopped and the culprit had to live with the dye until it wore off. I wonder what excuse the used to explain the purple hands?
 
Nathan said:
The DA and courts go for the "low hanging fruit", a slam-dunk case that doesn't take a lot of time or resources. Plea-bargains are cheerfully accepted. ;)
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I sometimes watch videos of public hearings and trials that were recorded during covid, bc courts were closed, you know? Anyway, a solid 98% of the judges and attorneys go through these rote speeches - you've been charged with blahblahblah, if found guilty blahblahblah, you have the right to fart, you may choose to let it rip, you're attorney will advise you to hold it in, the court will decide whether or not to open a window....

I was kidding at the end there of course, but they repeat the Same Freaking lists of crap for what feels like hours, which costs tax-dollars, and all the while they're encouraging the "defendant" to keep their mouth shut, and in the end, they either schedule another tax-supported court date, or, if the "defendant" has already been through all that several times already on the same charges, they release the freaking punk on bail or an OR or for time served.

It's freakin ridiculous!
 
Murrmurr said:
the end, they either schedule another tax-supported court date, or, if the "defendant" has already been through all that several times already on the same charges, they release the freaking punk on bail or an OR or for time served.
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Well you know everyone wants "law & order" but nobody wants to pay for it. Keeping people locked up costs tons of money, letting them post bail and letting them feed themselves keeps them out of the taxpayer's pocket.
 
Nathan said:
I've been meaning to interject some thoughts: As much as we all think video surveillance is going to enhance security, does it really? Same thing with "monitored" alarm systems...the crook breaks in the house, or swipes a package off the porch and he's gone. That's it, if you or the monitoring agents call the cops, they show up long after the crooks are gone. Video 'might' be of some benefit if it gets a good shot of the crook's face, buried behind sunglasses and a hoody, and the person can be identified.
The only feature of a security system that I feel does any good is sensors that set off a loud siren, the louder the better. Makes the burglar more nervous, and draws attention to the break-in.
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The only thing I can say for sure is that the guys who were banging on the outside of my house at night have stopped since I put my cameras in. Now they just throw rocks at it out of camera range. However, their aim is not that good and the thuds are faint. I have seen footage of a couple of sticks going horizontally past the cameras too.
 
Major issue with frequent Nextdoor posts in our urban county with many homeless and thieves that drive down from Alameda County (Oakland). I haven't lost anything but tend to use Amazon lockers for anything important. My neighbor in the next 4plex facing me set up a couple Ring camera systems. Years ago before shipment tracking I used a private mail box for online purchased deliveries. The smaller suburban city police where I live in tends to be more responsive than giant San Jose. Several cities are increasingly setting up Automated License Plate Readers, ALPR, despite usual protests from the ACLU and Libertarians. Most of the criminal activity occurs at night often on those on bicycles, skateboards, or in stolen vehicles with stolen license plates. Recently I posted a thread on the board on how I purchased then installed theft resistant screws on both my Forester plates.

The problem here in California is our courts full of D appointees are controlled by interests that listen more to groups like the ACLU making police efforts futile so they tend to ignore doing much. Thieves and other criminals are let out even if convicted due to lack of jail and prison space. A major reason politicians pushed the stupid initiative removing penalties for property crimes under $1000 that the politicians now refuse to change. Meanwhile our D politicians make the state a Mecca for homeless, illegal aliens, and criminals so of course many without usable job skills end up moving here.

There are other ways to give lower level criminals unpleasantness besides simply locking them up in jails. I'm not talking about torture but rather making their jail experience unpleasant. Easily done by putting them in jails without air conditioning in summer or adequate heating during winter. If they had to sit in a foul smelling cell at 85F degrees during summer or 60 degrees in winter while being served boring plain food, no tv etc, and during day hours listening to ethical and moral training, I doubt many would feel the same about being convicted.
 
Lilac said:
If you get a chance, you need to watch this guy on You Tube and how he handles porch pirates.

My friend was missing his Sunday newspaper periodically and thought it wasn't being delivered. When he asked a couple of other neighbors, he found out they were experiencing the same thing, BUT not everyone was missing it on the same Sunday. After a little bit of investigation, it was learned that another neighbor way down the street was taking the newspapers while walking in the early AM and spreading the joy out on the street.

He got up and waited for the delivery for several Sundays and placed an older newspaper in the driveway as bait that had a clear powder all over it. This powder, once it made contact with skin, turned a deep purple which would not wash off. It had to wear off. Same stuff that is used in dye packs, totally harmless and legal go buy.

Needless to say, the paper theft stopped and the culprit had to live with the dye until it wore off. I wonder what excuse the used to explain the purple hands?
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yes I've seen many of those.. but funny as it might be. it's not going to stop determined thieves.. and in fact might even make a homowner more of a target if the thief is looking for revenge.. not all thieves wear a stripe jumper and carry swag over their shoulders, some as extremely nasty
 
jujube said:
I saw a video recently that showed a delivery driver propping the package against the recipient's door, taking a picture, and then picking up the package and taking it back to the truck, I assume to keep it herself.
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yes I've seen that too, where people with security cameras have filmed that and posted it on youtube.. another one is where a random security camera in a road films the driver in the back of his van stomping on people's parcels inside the van before he delivers them
 
Well, you have certainly convinced me that I'm right in refusing to order from companies that won't ship to my post office box. (There are other reasons too.)

Recently I saw a young man walk up onto a neighbor's porch and take one of his resin chairs. He walked a couple of doors down and went into an apartment building. I didn't know what to do.

When I saw the neighbor, I asked him if he'd given someone permission to take one of his chairs, and he said no. I described the person as best I could.
 
hollydolly said:
Sis... I don't know if you remember me saying about our Porch Pirate , Christmas before last.. ?

Our Video ring doorbell captured this guy on a bike, lift a whole box of Wine that had been left on our doorstep by the delivery company..which a business sends to my husband every year ... I'm not kidding, complete with the name of the well known Wine company (Virgin wines) all over the box...the driver just left it on the doorstep, while we were out.

The doorbell picked up the whole theft, and we contacted the police not really believing they would do anything, and in the meantime, we printed off stills from the camera of the guy stealing the wine box, and distributed them throughout the neighbourhood... in people's letterboxes.. pinned everywhere in one day.. within the week, the Police had caught him, and had charged him.. apparently he was well known to him.

We were super impressed because the police here barely come out for a home burglary.. ..the guy appeared in court last march and was fined.. and told to pay us compensation.. which he hasn't, but it matter not to us, because the company themselves after viewing the footage, sent another box of wine... and probably he's not paid his fine.. but just to show that the Video ring doorbells do work, and are taken seriously at least by some police..
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You're right... I remember this now. It's an example of how well the video doorbells can work. I should have gotten the cameras long before now. Lesson learned.
 
Nathan said:
Carriers are ALL notorious for leaving packages where porch pirates can steal. :mad:

About the only workaround I can see is to leave standing orders to require a signature, or go pick up package at the carriers terminal. View attachment 244254
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It's sad, isn't it @Nathan? Sad that we have to worry about packages being delivered where/when they can be stolen. Honestly, I want to believe that people are basically good but sometimes I feel like the world is going to hell in a hand-basket. :(
 
oldaunt said:
Not always porch pirates. At times they just get delivered to the wrong address. It has happened to me several times. Luckily all my distant neighbors know me.
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I keep hoping that this will be the case with my missing box.
 

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