Among the biggest cities in the country that are the worst for stolen deliveries, D.C. ranks in the top five.
Washington ranks No. 4 in the nation in terms of the worst places for getting deliveries stolen off your porch, according to a study by security company SafeWise.
The study revealed insights into crime and trends and how local communities combat the problem.
Known as “porch pirates,” these individuals grab your deliveries right off your front stoop — and they’ve made off with some $231 million so far this year in stolen goods in D.C. alone.
The nation’s capital ranks behind New York City, Philadelphia and Chicago as the worst places to have packages pilfered.
D.C. police have offered some tips on how to keep the porch pirates at bay:
- Never leave packages unattended.
- Have them sent to a post office box or third party location like a friend or family member’s address in a more secure environment.
- Require a signature.
- Use Amazon Hub, a secure locker system available at any of the seven District police headquarters.
Assistant Chief of Police for Patrol Services Sylvan Altieri said it’s easy to get your package delivered to a police station. When you’re checking out on the Amazon app, select “Amazon Hub” and then select the police station nearest to you.
Unlike similar lockers at grocery and convenience stores, these Amazon lockers are well guarded and open 24 hours a day. Altieri said they see about 1,000 packages go through each set of lockers per month.
Around 120 million packages were stolen in the U.S. in 2023, amounting to $16 billion in lost goods. The District reported 2.45 million incidents of stolen packages, amounting to $231.6 million in value lost.
The report also found a quarter of Americans have had a package stolen.
WTOP’s Ciara Wells contributed to this report.
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