'Crime of opportunity': What Manitobans can do to avoid porch pirates

A package is delivered and left on a porch. (FILE IMAGE/CTV News)

Porch pirates are a growing concern as more Manitobans have packages delivered to their homes; and now, city officials and police officers are offering suggestions for ways to mitigate the risks of these thefts.

“Porch pirates, the term that we’ve been using, is essentially people who’ve been going around the City of Winnipeg and taking unguarded packages off people’s front steps or their mailboxes,” explained Chad Swenarchuk, a detective with the Winnipeg Police’s Service property crimes unit, in an interview on Wednesday.

Police noted that the issue of porch pirates tends to become more prevalent around the holiday season when people are ordering more packages online.

“Around the holidays, winter time, around Christmas, that kind of thing, these thefts will increase as more packages are being delivered,” Swenarchuk said.

Sgt. Paul Manaigre, media relations officer with the Manitoba RCMP, said as more and more people partake in online shopping, it’s important to be diligent about where and when the packages are being dropped off.

“They’ve got to take the precautions to protect their property,” Manaigre said in an interview on Thursday.

Manaigre added there’s no particular community in the province where porch pirates are more prevalent, with Swenarchuk describing it as a “crime of opportunity.”

“Somebody happens to be walking by, they see an unguarded package and the thought is there just to grab it and see if they can get away with it,” Swenarchuk said.

To avoid falling victim to porch pirates, police offered the following tips:

• Rely on your neighbours if you aren’t home when packages arrive;
• Pick up packages at designated delivery points and post offices in your community;
• Buy a secure mailbox or lockbox; and
• Use a surveillance camera or doorbell camera system.

For those who have a package stolen from their home, the best thing to do is report it to police.

“We don’t know it’s a problem unless we hear about it,” Manaigre said.

COMMUNITY TAKING STEPS TO STOP THEFT

Precautions are being put in place in one Winnipeg neighbourhood to stop the theft of parcels.

Markus Chambers, city councillor for St. Norbert-Seine River and Winnipeg’s deputy mayor, said he worked with Canada Post to implement new community boxes to provide a secure place for larger parcels in River Park South.

“We have to recognize that there has been an increase to online ordering since COVID,” Chambers said.

The city councillor said these new parcel lockers will replace the existing community mailboxes, and will provide larger storage capacity.

“Canada Post will put a key in your personal mailbox and you’ll be able to retrieve your parcel, and then resubmit the key back into the Canada Post community mailbox,” he explained.

Chambers noted the new parcel boxes are a welcome addition to the neighbourhood.

“[The community] recognizes a need for something like this,” he said.