Putting a Pinch on Porch Piracy

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – As the amount of holiday retail being delivered to residential homes increases, so too does the amount of theft of those packages from people’s porches.

Muskingum County Sheriff Matt Lutz shared some tips that could keep the pirates off of your porch.

“Anytime you have lights outside that’s going to be a deterrent.” Lutz said. “If there’s a house with lights outside, that’s going to be… you know motion lights are pretty easy to put up. They’re pretty cost effective. They come on when somebody’s there. So if they’re on, you know something has set that off. Ring cameras, the door cameras, security cameras are a big thing now, as are security alarms.”

Along with the modern security equipment are the tried and true, traditional methods such as: if you see something say something, monitoring your neighborhood and being aware of your surroundings. If you see a suspicious person or vehicle, call it in or snap a picture.

“One of the best ways to do it is to be home while your package is delivered.” Lutz said. “A lot of times you have the ability to put… like the time of delivery. You can kind of request a time for delivery so… Whether you work the morning or the evening you can have your packages delivered the opposite, so that you are home. The other thing with that, with delivery instructions, you can sign up to get that notification on your phone to make sure that… you know, when it is in transport, when it is being shipped, when it’s on its way and when it’s delivered.”

Lutz also mentioned having packages placed where they cannot be seen from the road, having the package signed for or having them delivered to a trusted neighbor.