PACKAGE THEFT- Do We Really Care?

During the holiday season, local police departments and sheriff’s offices send out reminders on social media about how to protect yourself from package theft. You may be tired of the warnings if you pay attention much to the news and social media. However, a question comes to mind, how many people do something to protect themselves from package theft?

PEMCO Insurance has commissioned a poll of Northwesterners in Washington and Oregon about issues of concern in the Northwest. One of the subjects included package theft.

PEMCO asked where people have their packages delivered to. 86% of Washingtonians said that they have their packages delivered to their homes. 10% said that they have packages delivered to their work or some other place.

Next, PEMCO asked if people thought that package theft was a problem.

48% of Washingtonians agreed that package theft happens often (9%), happens sometimes (10%), or happens rarely (29%). 49% of Washingtonians say that package theft never happens!

Finally, PEMCO ask what people do to guard against package theft. 27% of Washingtonians do nothing to guard against package theft! Others did something to protect their packages including,

·         Making sure someone is home to receive packages (39%)

·         Installed security technology (19%)

·         Allocated a space or container for packages that is hidden (16%)

·         Had packages shipped to a location other than home such as work or a neighbor’s house (15%)

·         Signed up for a safe delivery service such as Amazon Key (11%)

·         Did some other action (7%)

(Note: The percentages add up to more than 100%. While not addressed in the write up that I saw, the survey probably allowed respondents to chose more than one answer to this question.)

Almost half of Washingtonians think that package theft is a problem, possibly because they or their neighbors have had packages stolen from their front porches. But, according to the survey, half of Washingtonians do not believe that package theft occurs. The writeup of the survey that I saw did not have an explanation as to why so many people did not believe that package theft occurs.

While just over a quarter of respondents say they do not do anything to prevent package theft, over 70% say that they take some action. PEMCO’s take on the survey results were summarized by its spokesperson, Derek Wing, "And while some folks have taken steps to thwart would-be 'porch pirates,' these results suggest many of us could do more to protect our deliveries."

PEMCO:

https://pemco.com/poll/package-theft