Call the police
Officer <name> at the 107th Precinct at <number>
He has our Fiji water
It was stolen
It took me a second to figure out what this meant. It was something I knew would happen sooner or later -- a package was stolen from our porch. It seems like a national epidemic -- at least judging by the plethora of Youtube videos on the subject. I'm sharing one below.
It has been discussed at meetings of the Jamaica Estates Association, since it has seemed to happen a lot in this neighborhood, and many are furious. Of course, there's not a whole lot the police can do to stop it from happening. They simply can't be everywhere at once, and I assume these are low priority since they're nonviolent.
It seems to me that the increase in package theft is due in large part to the increasing prevalence of online purchasing. It's simply a matter of a newly-emergent opportunity being exploited. One person I know disagrees. She has heard from the police that it has to do with Mayor DeBlasio being soft on crime. Theory of Broken Windows and all that.
Maybe. But then why is it not just a New York thing? Maybe it's a combination of factors, as such things so often are.
At any rate, I have to give my thanks to the police at the 107th precinct. They caught the water thief (with over a dozen packages addressed to a variety of homes) and called our house. When I called, and when I got there to pick up my water, they were very courteous and professional. They told me a little of what had gone on, and asked for my estimate of the value. Apparently, if the total value of the stolen items is above some threshold then it becomes a felony. Anyway, I appreciated them and their demeanor.
Now I'm gonna have some water.
Water is the stupidest thing to steal. Heavy and low value.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's stupid to steal water. Assuming you know it's water. But, as Joe pointed out (below), the thieves don't know it's water until they open the package. Porch pirates don't generally open the packages at the door.
DeleteThere are a couple reasons for that, but both reasons come down to time. An extra minute at the door is a minute they don't have for going after more packages. And a minute at the door is another minute that they can get caught at the door. The best strategy for them is to grab packages as quickly as possible and move on. Then, at the end of the day, when they return home they can go through the packages and hope for something expensive and saleable.
Perhaps they were THIRSTY after a long day of stealing still heavier and more valuable packages!
ReplyDeleteSeriously, though… was the package actually labeled “Fiji Water” explicitly on its outside or, like all packages received from Amazon (and other large retailers), only identified AS being from Amazon – and could, therefore, have ANYTHING inside! If the latter, it’s truly pot-luck for the thieves! Since “anything goes”, why not take the chance – and take the package!
I tend to very closely monitor the delivery dates and track the in-transit progress of my packages for that very reason. And, on the date-of-delivery, I check regularly until the package is in my possession. Though, of late, I am home far more than the average person – and far more than even I used to be a year ago. So, that’s not an answer for most folks.
I think the ultimate solution to this problem will be to have “local pick-up centers” spring up in every densely populated neighborhood. Not for “just Amazon” (as presently exists), but as a destination for ALL such deliveries, where you can make a pick up by showing a proper ID. Wouldn’t it be worth the slight inconvenience to drive, or even walk, a few blocks to know that your packages will not be stolen when you are not home… or, sometimes, even when you are!
PS to Marc: As you know, I love Irwin Allen’s 1960 film “The Lost World”. Even showed it for my “Bring Your Own Film Night” at Cinema History Class two years ago! But how does it qualify as a LABEL for this Blog post? …Look out, here comes a dinosaur!
THere's a few points to reply to.
DeleteAs I replied to Leon, you are right about the packages not being labelled.
We try to track packages. But we have found that, often packages are marked as delivered before they're actually delivered. It seems to me that the drivers mark the packages as delivered when they check them in at the beginning of the day (rather than when they actually deliver them). I assume that has to do with making their numbers look good. But a number of times I have contacted Amazon about packages that had not been delivered despite the tracking saying that had been. THey always say to give it a day or three. Very frustrating.
I believe (though I haven't researched it) there are actually local pick-up centers that will accept deliveries from anyone. The catch is that you have to pay for the service. And, of course, it's simply not as convenient to pick stuff up as it is to have it delivered to your door.
I have no clue how I accidentally tagged this post with "Lost World." I shall fix that.