Avoid Holiday Package Thefts: Tips From Somerville Police

SOMERVILLE, MA – It's the most wonderful time of the year – especially for crooks looking to swipe presents from your front porch. The Somerville Police Department this week warned residents to be on the lookout for package thieves and help their neighbors protect against thefts this holiday season.

Here's how you can help keep deliveries in your neighborhood safe, according to the Somerville Police Department:

- If your porch is accessible to anyone on the street, it would be better for you to take advantage of some of the services offered by retailers and delivery services. Amazon lets their customers use a service called Amazon Locker.

Instead of delivering a package to your home or business address, you can select an Amazon Locker location and pick up your package at a time that's convenient for you. Once your package is delivered to the Amazon Locker, you'll receive an e-mail notification with a unique pickup code that includes the address and opening times for your selected Locker location. -Amazon

- UPS uses "access points" for customers who they are not able to contact at home.

UPS Access Point locations, neighborhood stores designed to make online shopping easier and delivery more convenient. From shipping and receiving your packages to integrating our locations into your business, we can help make your life easier. -UPS

Find out where your nearest access point is in your area.

- If you know your package was stolen, report the incident to the police. Officers at the station will take all the information you have and will be dispatched to those areas. Chances are, you are not the only one and the more people report areas of package thefts, the better our officers on patrol can keep a watch at your neighborhood.

- It is not possible to have all our officers on every street to patrol for package thieves, so if you have surveillance cameras installed on your front/back porches, this will assist our detectives to search for these thieves.

- Break-ins at residences can also occur during the holidays. You may not notice, but your house can be targeted with potential thieves lurking and checking your daily routines; when you got to work, when you come home, how many people live at your home. The simple act of setting up your lights on timers will help deter thieves from going to your home. Or better yet, installing surveillance cameras.

- If you have footage of a suspicious person lurking about or of a package being stolen share this with your police. The sooner we have this information the better and you may also help a neighbor.

Photo by Renee Schiavone, Patch