Louisville police warn of uptick in packages stolen off porches

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- With the Christmas season past, the peak season for deliveries has ended. But a growing number of people are getting the notification they’ve received a package that ends up missing from the front door.

St. Matthews Police Chief Barry Wilkerson said it's important for people to help catch these so-called "porch pirates."

"We definitely need to have the community step up," he said Friday. "If they've seen individuals that don't belong on people's porches or their property, let us know. That would help us tremendously."

Wilkerson said his officers are and will aggressively pursue people stealing packages from homes.

"Nobody likes a thief," he said. "You know, everybody worked hard for their money. ... That's their property."

Thanks to doorbell cameras and apps like Nextdoor, images of thieves in the act are being captured and shared. They may even knock on your front door, but Wilkerson said that's all part of their game.

"They get there and knock, make sure nobody's home ..." he said. "And that's when they'll take the package."

Police said there are several ways to protect your packages:

"You can have a neighbor come pick it up, (and) there are also now new decorative-like boxes you can put on your porch that lock they're almost like a mailbox that they stick the packages in."

If you are concerned about having a package delivered to your home, you can also pick it up from UPS, the FedEx store or an Amazon Hub.