News reports and calls to police and to South Boston Today confirm that there are still thieves prowling the South Boston Neighborhood looking for delivered packages to residential homes and stealing them if the opportunity presents itself. A few months back, two suspects were arrested for this crime and most thought that would be the end of the package stealing spree that was taking place. But it continues. FOX News/Boston Channel 25 ran a story over the weekend about packages, containing Mothers Day gifts that were taken from at least on door step in South Boston on East Second Street. The same thing is happening in other parts of the city; particularly the South End.
There are also reports of vehicle break-ins going on in South Boston so it’s best to make sure your car, SUV or Pickup is locked even in the day time.
Police will tell you that if you see unusual activity or suspicious looking people lurking about near your home or the homes of your neighbors you should call 911 and they will respond. Get a description of the people and if they are in a vehicle, try to get the plate number of the car. One tactic of the thieves is to follow FEDEX, UPS or Postal Delivery trucks on their delivery routes to their drop off addresses, wait for an opening and then move in to grab them.
In the past, residents have asked for advice about what to do to better secure their homes and also how to prevent or catch people that would steal delivered packages from their door steps. There are a variety of options. A dog in the home is a great deterrent to keeping burglars out. The sound of a barking dog is something most intruders don’t want to deal with. There are even motion detectors you can buy that will sound like an actual dog when it detects movement or tampering with a door or window. Standard alarms can be purchased for as little as $50 all the way up to and over a thousand dollars. Prices on security cameras have been steadily dropping making them affordable for any budget. You can even buy Game Cameras used by hunters and nature watchers for as little as $25; excellent for putting in your windows or installing in your back yard and they take excellent, time stamped photos and video and the best part is that no matter which equipment you use and how much you pay, all of them work pretty well.
We live in a time when many people are gone all day and/or all weekend and having items that you order from Wal-Mart or Amazon delivered to your front door is a wonderful convenience rather than spending valuable time going to ‘brick and mortar’ stores in person to make your purchases. But unfortunately, along with this new convenience comes the danger of thieves grabbing them before you even get to open the box if they are delivered to your door and there is no one home to accept them.
So, take precautions as best you can to protect your delivered purchases and by all means, keep a look out on your block for the thieves preying on local residents. With vigilance, luck and cooperation with our local police, we will hopefully put this latest group or thieves out of business and into a jail cell.
