Northern Illinois’ Busy Porch Pirates: What You Need To Know

Like many people, you probably order things online for delivery multiple times throughout the course of a year, but you really ramp it up around the holidays, and your porch may have packages sitting on it on a daily basis throughout this entire month.

Porch pirates, those criminals who come up and grab your packages from in front of your door, have a similar schedule. They steal packages throughout the year, but go into theft-overload during the holiday season. They love seeing a neighborhood full of houses with stacks of boxes on the front porch.

Those of us who live in Northern Illinois get to experience more porch-piracy, or package theft, than pretty much anywhere else in the nation, and it's not going away anytime soon.

A Company That Specializes In Research, Testing, Analysis, And Reviews Of Home Security, Smart Home Tech, And Personal Safety Products Recently Studied Porch Piracy

That company, SafeWise.com, estimates that there are roughly 250,000 porch-piracy incidents happening every single day across the nation:

Porch pirates cost American consumers an estimated $15 billion in the past 12 months. But that's just one side of the equation — cost to retailers topped $22 billion in the same time period, according to data collected by ZFLO Technologies, a loss prevention innovator and e-commerce research company. That makes the overall economic impact from stolen packages at least $37 billion over the past year.

A new report from SafeWise ranks Chicago #1 in the nation for package theft, with an estimated 6.5 million incidents this year and about $254 million lost in stolen packages. That places Chicago ahead of big metros like New York, Miami and Houston. For those of us in Northern Illinois, whether we're in the city, the suburbs, or smaller towns, the risk of porch piracy is real and rising.

Packages On Your Porch Are Always Going To Be At Risk For Theft, But There Are Certain Times That Your Packages Are More Vulnerable Than Others

According to multiple surveys of porch-piracy victims, packages are most often stolen on Mondays and Tuesdays, likely because many people place orders over the weekend and have deliveries early in the week.

As for time of day that your packages are most likely to get swiped, mid-to-late afternoon (roughly 2 to 5pm) is commonly reported as the peak window for theft, with many thefts clustered around 3 to 4pm. That matches the time when many people are still at work and deliveries tend to arrive.

Here are some things you can do to protect yourself and your packages from porch pirates:

Schedule deliveries when you’re home: If possible, choose delivery times when someone will be around to bring in the package right away.

Use alternate delivery options: Consider having packages sent to a secure location like a workplace, a trusted neighbor’s home, a parcel locker, or a local pickup point.

Keep packages out of plain view: If your porch is within 25 feet of the street or visible from the road, the odds of theft go up. Sheltered side or back door deliveries can help.

Install a security system/doorbell camera/outdoor lighting: Visibility is a deterrent because many thieves avoid homes where footage could identify them.

Have a plan: Track deliveries, sign up for alerts, bring in packages ASAP, or ask a neighbor/friend to retrieve them if you’re not going to be home. Some people even tag a less-conspicuous friend or neighbor to pick up packages within hours of delivery.

Here's a porch pirate in action in the Chicago area just a couple of days ago, and the homeowners drive up while the theft is still happening:

And here's some fun with porch pirates: