BOTHELL- Package Theft

Last week the local press talked about a package theft in the Bothell area. The homeowner’s home video recorded a white mini-van drive up to the house. A female with brown hair with a scarf around it and wearing a long sleeve blue top, dark blue pants and white and black shoes walked up to the front door and took a package from the front porch.

If you know anything about this theft call 911 or the Sheriff’s Office Tip Line at (425) 388-3845.

 During the holidays, local police often emphasize the importance of preventing package theft. However, with the rise of online shopping, UPS and Federal Express deliver greater quantities of merchandise all year around. This means that the potential to have a package stolen at your door step is high throughout the year.

The usual measures to protect your incoming packages include:

·         Have them delivered to your work address or to a neighbor’s address.

·         Have a neighbor pick it up as soon as it is delivered.

·         Send it to a UPS or FedEx Office location.

·         Request a signature on delivery. This means that whoever accepts the package signs for it ensuring that the driver hands it to someone at the delivery destination. If no one is available to sign for it, the driver will try to deliver it on another day.

·         Instruct the delivery service to leave the package someplace that is out of sight of the street, such as the back door.

·         Encourage your neighbors who stay at home to be on the lookout for suspicious vehicles (for example following delivery trucks) and report them to 911 right away.

 

One other option that UPS offers is to enter your garage code as part of your profile in their free My Choice service. When the driver is 10 feet from your house, he/she is given your code to open the garage door. The driver can place the package in your garage and then close the door. The code disappears from the driver’s handheld when he/she is beyond 10 feet from your house.  

 

 

The idea is that the UPS driver can secure your package in your garage where no one can see it or get to it. Of course your garage door will need an associated key pad. And you will need to be comfortable with the security of UPS’s computer servers. However, this is an attempt to provide improved security for delivered packages.

Comment: While not perfect, UPS’s initiative does show ingenuity at addressing security for delivered packages. None of the recommendations that police agencies give are perfect. They may be easy to get around by thieves or they may add inconvenience for the recipient. Delivery companies need to continue to work on techniques that ensure secure delivery. Consumers need to be vigilant in protecting their delivered packages. This is a problem that may not be solved in a short time, but with the foreseeable continuation of package delivery to homeowners it remains worthy of attention from companies, government and the public.

KOMO:

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Package-thief-caught-on-cam-may-be-tied-to-other-crimes-305095791.html?tab=video&c=y

 

UPS:

https://wwwapps.ups.com/mcdp?loc=en_US&WT.svl=PNRO_L1

 

FedEx:

http://about.van.fedex.com/blog/how-to-protect-your-packages/