6 ways to prevent ‘porch pirates’ this holiday season

The term “porch pirate” refers to someone who steals a recently-delivered package from the buyer’s front porch. Here are some tips on preventing it, shared by Frisco’s chief of police.

Two-minute impact

Frisco Chief of Police David Shilson shared the following tips to help protect packages from porch thieves during a Nov. 19 Frisco City Council meeting.

• Track shipments
• Schedule deliveries for when you are at home
• Arrange for a neighbor to hold onto the delivery
• Ship the package straight to your place of employment
• Install a lockbox or a secure delivery box option
• Report any suspicious activity

The upcoming holiday season means more people will likely be ordering gifts or other packages online, Shilson said.

Reporting suspicious activity to the police is “just neighbors looking out for each other,” Shilson said.

“That's a great deterrent to crime and reporting the suspicious activity as they see it, so that we can respond accordingly,” he said.

Frisco residents can report package theft or suspicious activity to the police through the following ways:

• Calling 911
• Calling the non-emergency number 972-292-6010
• Using the Frisco Police mobile app