‘Porch Pirates’ Steal Holiday Packages as They Pile Up at Homes<br />Steve Gaut, a UPS spokesman, said public perception of the problem was rising, “driven by the greater use and affordability of home surveillance technology and the pervasiveness of social media and related user-generated social content.” The company does not think there has been a significant increase in the per-capita incidence of package theft, he said,<br />but many victims never report their problems to the company.<br />In late November, a nanny in Everett, Wash., chased down package thieves at a home where she was babysitting, nabbing one of them<br />and holding her until police arrived, according to local media reports.<br />“One of the outcomes is you’ve got one of the easiest ways to steal something ever,” said Nirav Tolia, chief executive of Nextdoor, a social network for neighborhoods<br />that has become a popular outlet for residents to gripe about stolen boxes.<br />By his own estimate, Mr. Armstrong has confronted suspected package thieves more than a dozen times<br />over the last four years, once on his own porch with the aid of his surveillance system.<br />Two weeks ago, its Sheriff’s Office ran a sting operation to catch porch pirates,<br />thieves who swipe packages from Amazon and other companies from doorsteps.<br />Internet surveillance cameras from Google’s Nest and Ring have made it easier for residents to capture video of package thieves in the act.
