New Albany Police are offering tips to help you prevent package theft during the holiday season. Our police suggest several proactive steps you can take to help protect yourself from being a victim.

Invest in a home security camera. New Albany police detectives say porch pirates tend to avoid cameras.

Get to know your neighbors. They can keep an eye out for your package or even have it delivered to their home.

Try to be home for deliveries. When at all possible, schedule a delivery time when someone is home to receive your package.

Consider an Amazon locker. If you shop on Amazon, think about picking up your package from their secure lockers. Amazon has lockers located throughout Central Ohio. To learn how to use the Amazon locker feature, click here.

Keep packages out of sight when shopping. If you’re going from the store to your car, try not to make multiple trips because you never know who might be watching. If you must leave packages in your car, leave them somewhere secure such as the trunk or a covered portion of your SUV.

As always, if you see anything suspicious, give NAPD a call at 614-855-1234.

According to home safety research company SafeWise:

• 4 in 10 people who had a package stolen in the past year were hit by porch pirates more than once.
• 71% of all packages stolen were valued at $100 or less—but if you pick $50 as an average loss, we estimate up to $6 billion in losses.
• 2023’s estimated losses are 5% higher than in 2022.
• Over half of all stolen packages were delivered by Amazon.