The Columbia Police Department’s (CPD) Property Crime Unit is sending you a friendly reminder to protect valuable holiday packages that are delivered to your home.
Today is National Package Protection Day — a time typically designated on the first Wednesday after Thanksgiving, encouraging homeowners to stay alert and avoid package thefts. With the holiday on-line shopping season in full swing, more packages are left in mail boxes and especially front porches. The criminals who steal them are called ‘porch pirates.’
Here are a few safety tips to protect your packages:
- Sign up for electronic delivery alerts with delivery service company
- Provide delivery service personnel with instructions to put packages in a secure location
- Choose packaging to conceal the contents of a package
- Don’t allow packages to sit too long outside of your home
- Ask a trustworthy neighbor to collect packages when you’re not home
- Install surveillance cameras as a theft deterrent
To report package thefts, you’re encouraged to contact Crimestoppers in any of the following ways:
CALL toll-free, 888-CRIME-SC.
LOG onto: www.midlandscrimestoppers.com, and click on the red “Submit a tip” tab.
DOWNLOAD the new P3 Tips App for Apple or Android devices.