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Thread: Had a package stolen from my front door!

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Orlando, Florida
    Posts
    1,156

    Default Had a package stolen from my front door!

    Damn porch pirates!!
    I am doing a side project for one of the theme parks here in Orlando and had some supplies stolen from my front door at 2:30 in the afternoon. The funny thing is it was a roll of wire. I'm sure they were hoping for an I-phone 10 or something more valuable. The wire probably ended up in a dumpster somewhere.
    I have security cameras and have the footage the the thief pulling their car into my driveway, casually walking to my front door and then driving away. I was a two person operation one was driving while the other grabbed the package. Several of my neighbors also have cameras and tried to get the license plate, but the car was too far away and the resolution of the cameras too low to read it.
    I printed out stills from the video of the person and car with a subtitle that says. "This guy steals packages. Be on the lookout." I taped them to my front door and put a sign in my front yard should the thief return and to notify delivery personnel as well as my neighbors.

    I called the cops, but was told to notify the shipper. I was shocked that they didn't seem to care or want me to file a report. We are going to call again today and demand that an officer come out and take a report. My hopes are that they put my info in a database that they use to track where this activity is happening and increase patrols in those areas.

    Am I giving the police too much credit?

    When I contacted the shipper (FedEx) I was inform that the package was shipped using "Smart Post" and this is actually a service provided by USPS and that I need to contact them. When I did I was informed that I need to contact FedEx. The old run around game.

    So in an effort to stop this from happening again I did some research and sort of hit a dead end.
    The recommendations I found are:

    1. Track the package so you know when to expect it. I did. I knew the package was delivered. The thief had it in his hands 1 hr later. This method does not stop the activity.
    2. Have the package delivered to work. I do this on a regular basis, but it is not always practical especially for large packages that may not fit in my car. I'll get to an example in a moment.
    3. Install security cameras that notify you when it detects motion and records. I have cameras with this ability. I quickly discovered that they record almost constantly, and being interrupted with constant notifications gets old really quick. So I turned the notifications off. Besides the thief is not afraid of cameras. He knows there is nothing you can do with his picture unless you get the plate number and I'm not sure what would happen if I had it.
    4. Have package delivered to a neighbors house that is home. I am not real close with many of my neighbors and I really don't want to have to rely on them for that. I am a very independent person.
    5. Buy a delivery drop box. I decided to try this. I found one on Amazon for $45. It fits the decor of the house and will keep packages dry if it rains. The idea is that if the package is out of site the thief will pass it up. It is very unlikely that they will walk up and check inside to see if there is something to steal. It's just not worth the risk. The concern is that the delivery person may not use it even though it is clearly labeled DELIVERIES. Here is an example of a delivery due to the size that has to be delivered to the house.
    6. Make the package have to be signed for which I don't have control over. This is up to the sender. Then I need to play tag with the delivery driver or go pick it up from the delivery service. This is a major hassle and defeats the purpose of having it shipped to the house. Also see bullet 2 above.

    I'm looking for more practical ideas that may deter this from happening.
    I remember around Christmas time some guy made a glitter bomb bait package that someone took. I thought about filling a box with my dog's crap and leaving it for them. I read that in NY Amazon worked with NYPD and put GPS trackers in bait boxes then arrested the thief.
    Here is an Idea:
    https://www.theblankbox.com/shop
    I'm just looking for feedback.

    When something like this happens, you really want revenge...I mean justice. LOL

    Chris

    PS
    Here are the grabs from the security video. I plan to upgrade my cameras too. I know the quality is horrible. This seems to happen to every camera I get after a year or so. They start off normal then degrade to what you see here.
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Thief 1.jpg 
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ID:	55019Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Thief 2.jpg 
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Size:	444.9 KB 
ID:	55020Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Thief 3.jpg 
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ID:	55021
    Last edited by Lazerjock; 01-26-2019 at 04:31.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    Posts
    2,292

    Default

    That sucks and sucks 2x when no one will even help you out. I imagine that the thieves know that the police don't even do anything. You should definitely demand a police report since it was stolen property. At least make them do their job.

    Around here Amazon packages can be delivered to certain stores like CVS or Walgreens but that is a hassle. I like the dropbox idea. Does Amazon have a key to open it or is it kind of like a public mailbox where you can put something in but you can't get it out?

    When something is stolen, I wonder if it is better to just act dumb and say the package was not delivered or to say it was stolen. If you say it wasn't delivered but they scanned it then they have to figure out if they actually delivered it to the right house.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Orlando, Florida
    Posts
    1,156

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by JohnYayas View Post
    That sucks and sucks 2x when no one will even help you out. I imagine that the thieves know that the police don't even do anything. You should definitely demand a police report since it was stolen property. At least make them do their job.

    Around here Amazon packages can be delivered to certain stores like CVS or Walgreens but that is a hassle. I like the dropbox idea. Does Amazon have a key to open it or is it kind of like a public mailbox where you can put something in but you can't get it out?

    When something is stolen, I wonder if it is better to just act dumb and say the package was not delivered or to say it was stolen. If you say it wasn't delivered but they scanned it then they have to figure out if they actually delivered it to the right house.
    We are going to call today and make to cops take a report.

    The drop box I ordered doesn't lock. My thoughts are that if the thief can't see they won't risk it. The style that allows you to put packages in but not get them out are vary expensive and large. They are basically a mail box.

    The problem with acting dumb is that there was no signature required for the package delivery which basically lets the delivery service off the hook. The driver reported that he delivered it. Done and done...right?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    5,704

    Default

    ipcamtalk.com

    Everything you need to know about cameras.

    Quick critique apart from the quality which is horrendous, you want Dahua or Hikvision digital cameras, they're also mounted too high - need to be around 7ft to get a good face shot.

    Favourite camera on there is the

    Dahua Starlight Varifocal Turret (IPC-HDW5231R-Z).

    Couple of Samples (not mine):



    Day:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...&v=6i2QOecnLNA

    Night (forced colour):

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...&v=fxKrzlsqNfQ


    If you want a licence plate or a good close up on someone coming down your drive, then you probably need a second camera with a more zoomed in lens. 2mp and wide angle doesn't give enough pixel density for recognition. High MP cameras are poor in low light. Hence why the favourite camera for most is a low light 2mp STARVIS model. The low MP can be overcome by zooming in the lens on one of the cameras ie use 1 wide for an overview and a 2nd zoomed for the detail. There's also licence plate reading software for cameras which can be used on a single non commercial camera for free although I understand atm, it takes a pretty powerful pc to run it.

    Another answer to a close up for a licence plate shot is a PTZ camera although the zoom detection on these tends to be pretty screwy.
    Last edited by White-Light; 01-26-2019 at 23:30.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Orlando, Florida
    Posts
    1,156

    Default

    Wow! Thanks for the info. I will check them out.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    5,704

    Default

    No probs.

    They have a Wiki with loads of info on and there are plenty of threads on the above cameras and others. You'll also find the preferred recording method is a dedicated pc and "Blue Iris" software over a DVR.

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