Bait Boxes Ready To Sink Porch Pirates' Hopes In Rancho Cordova
RANCHO CORDOVA (CBS13) – They're called porch pirates and 'tis the season where they're targeting your holiday loot!
"They're bold. Thieves are bold," said Deputy Jesus Arambula.
With record online retail numbers, so are the number of packages getting delivered.
Deputies believe crooks are following delivery trucks, staking out neighborhoods, and snatching packages. At best all you catch is surveillance video.
Now Rancho Cordova Police may have found a way to actually track them down.
"Our packages, we deploy them throughout the city. They contain GPS tracking devices in them," Arambula said.
Their Crime Suppression Unit will take ordinary packages and load them with expensive gifts armed with a tracking device. So the minute they take the package, an alert is sent to track it.
"We want to let them know that if they do steal packages in Rancho Cordova, they will go to jail," he said.
Thanks to Measure H, it's one of the many operations the unit deploys throughout the year to help prevent crimes before they happen.
"I think it's a good idea. I don't have a problem with that at all," said Jeff Bert from Rancho Cordova.
He's normally home to grab deliveries, but knows most neighbors aren't and thinks this is a good deterrent for thieves this holiday season.
"Packages are getting stolen and occasionally people are getting caught doing," he said.
Last year alone, 23 million Americans had packages stolen from their homes according to insurancequotes.com.
Deputies hope this not only stops the thieves, but helps catch the frequent offenders.
