Tiffin PD shares tips on how to prevent ‘porch pirates’ from stealing packages from your house

It’s that time of year again. People are buying gifts for friends and family, having them shipped to their doors, only to find out that their package had been stolen by a porch pirate.

And Tiffin’s not exempt from this.

The Tiffin Police Department has shared some tips on how you can avoid having your packages stolen over the holiday season.

Holidays pack enough stress. With these tips, you can help keep “dealing with package theft” off of your to-do list.

Tiffin Police recommends you take the following steps to protect your items from theft:

• The obvious solution—schedule delivery for a time when you know someone is home: When possible, arrange to have items delivered when you or someone in your family can be there to retrieve them. Simple enough.
• Work delivery: You could also use your work address and have packages delivered there, when possible. This reduces the chance of package theft, but depending on your working conditions, this may be more hassle than it’s worth. Your work may have restrictions on personal package delivery. Be sure to check with management before making these arrangements.
• Require a signature: Some shipping options allow for a mandatory signature upon receipt of the package. If no one is present, the package is not left at the recipient’s address. The downside here is that most delivery services will only make a few efforts before requiring that you come pick it up at one of their facilities, usually not one of your choice.
• Make nice with your neighbors: With the rise in freelance workers, more and more people are finding a working base from home. See if you and a friendly neighbor can arrange to help each other out by bringing in packages to avoid package theft.
• Have delivery company hold packages for a certain amount of time
• Security Cameras

Sgt. DeMonte of Tiffin PD said: “If you experience a package theft, please make sure to file a report with the Tiffin Police Dept by either stopping in or calling dispatch (419) 447-2323. We can’t take reports over Facebook or by instant message.”