SAN DIEGO — As San Diegans ramp up their holiday shopping and online ordering, package deliveries can provide an easy score for people looking for theft opportunities, especially during this time of year.
Sarah Bonesteel is the leader of the San Diego chapter of the Guardian Angels, which is a nonprofit focused on public safety and crime prevention.
“The problem’s huge. It’s constant,” said Bonesteel. “People are always walking around casing places looking at things, trying to find things. Sometimes they follow the delivery trucks. But a lot of the time, they’re just driving along and kinda looking, keeping an eye out, trying to see if there’s something, and they’ll grab it if there is.”
She said there are a few ways we can reduce the chances of packages being stolen.
“Definitely take advantage of all the tracking apps that they have now,” said Bonesteel. “A lot of them, even Amazon, will tell you they’re four doors away. So you can either be there or you can call a neighbor and have them go grab it right away.”
Keeping packages out of sight is key, and often you can provide specific instructions on your order that the delivery person can follow, such as placing the package behind a column or bench.
“If it’s out of sight, it’s a little more out of mind,” said Bonesteel. “A little less obvious places to hide the package is helpful.”
“We’re lucky that we have really great landlords,” said Pacific Beach resident Amy Mikok. “If we’re not home, they’ll scoop them up for us.”
Some people prefer to have their packages shipped to secure locations where they can be picked up safely.
“There are now big boxes that you can bolt to a porch and those can be padlocked shut,” said Bonesteel. “Or Amazon offers lockers and you can pick them up there.”
With the prevalence of package theft these days, Bonesteel said there is an advantage to networking with neighbors on the Nextdoor app or with Ring video cameras.
“A lot of people are networked together and have cameras,” said Bonesteel. “And I have seen where people have put out an alert, and then they found the person or they found the package, and they can at least do something to deter these people.”
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