Dori: A solution to Seattle-Tacoma ranking No. 2 in U.S. for porch thefts
Dec 12, 2022, 9:33 AM | Updated: Dec 21, 2022, 2:22 pm
Packages on your porch continue to be targets of thieves. (Getty Images)
(Getty Images)
Waiting for a delivery at your front door?
Grab it quick, because a shows the Seattle-Tacoma region now ranks No. 2 among 鈥淲orst Metro Cities for Package Theft鈥� in the United States.
Seattle-Tacoma climbed two spots from its fourth-place ranking in 2021, according to the fifth annual Package Theft in America report by SafeWise 鈥� a national home and internet security research organization. The only city worse? San Francisco.
And numbers from SafeWise show the problem is getting worse.
Nationwide, 260 million packages were stolen from porches over the past 12 months, Dori cited from the report. That is an increase of 50 million pilfered packages from 2021. SafeWise also reports that:
- More than 3 in 4 Americans have been a victim of package theft in their lifetime, and over half of these 鈥減orch pirate鈥� victims have had multiple packages stolen in the past 12 months;
- 79% of Americans have been a victim of package theft in the last 12 months 鈥� up 15 points from last year;
- 40% of all packages stolen are valued between $50鈥�$100. The resulting loss: an estimated $19.5 billion.
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鈥淚t鈥檚 simply outrageous,鈥� Dori told listeners.
To protect their packages, SafeWise said of those trying to deter criminals, 35% of past victims had a security camera or video doorbell camera.
Frustratingly, Dori added, 17% of those said their camera caught the porch pirate in action. Even when identified or arrested, he continued, the penalty for thieves is almost inconsequential.
Dori wonders if the next solution is to install secure boxes 鈥渢oo heavy to carry off鈥� at a front door.
鈥淚t would be a receptacle that would cost you a few hundred bucks, and it鈥檚 probably going to be kind of ugly to have on your front porch, but we have no social compact in America,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have told the criminals that this land is their land, and we reward them and let them steal daily so they can buy their next fix of drugs.鈥�
Listen to Dori Monson weekday afternoons from noon 鈥� 3 p.m. on 成人X站 Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the聽podcast here.
