Video surveillance may deter brazen Naples porch pirates

Porch pirates are becoming more common in Southwest Florida. These thieves will walk up to a porch and will proceed to steal the homeowner’s delivered packages they ordered from an online store.

These unscrupulous thieves are a serious problem. Brick-and-motor and online stores are increasingly shipping packages to the homes of its customers. For instance, Amazon the e-commerce and cloud computing company delivered five billion packages for its PRIME members in 2017.

While some of these behemoth companies are investing in solutions to deter porch pirates, in the meantime, there are SWFL residents taking matters into their own hands.

Our reporter spoke with a homeowner that had video-surveillance in place. The resident captured the thief stealing the package.

But what happened next was troubling.

The porch pirate drove in a van with, “Executive Dry Cleaners,” posted on the side of the vehicle. She exits the van and walks to the door, taking a glance to the left and to the right prior to snatching a box right in-front of the homeowner’s door.

Collier County Sheriff’s Office is asking for help in catching the crook.

An online search for, “Executive Dry Cleaners,” has no results in Naples, which has nearby neighbors concerned. To appease these worries, there are several steps homeowners can take to deter these porch pirates.

For instance, the recipient can require a signature when a package is delivered. A second deterrent is to request that the package is held at a local post office, UPS or FedEx store, to be picked up at the recipient’s convenience.

Another useful precaution is to have the package delivered to the residence of a nearby friend or family member who will be home at the time of delivery; or for the recipient to have the package delivered to his or her workplace.