Madison Police Warn Of Porch Thefts As The Holidays Approach

Porch pirates are surging in the Madison area as residents turn to online shopping, both because of the pandemic and the approaching holidays.

Authorities have received an influx of calls since Thanksgiving, and this week, more than 15 packages were stolen from residents of a local apartment complex, Channel 3000 reported Thursday (December 10).

Madison police are warning residents to be vigilant of potential thieves of their online purchase.

“We’re always trying to remind people, not only to lock their doors, but make sure their vehicles are secured either in their garage or driveways and to remove items from plain view,” Tyler Grigg of the Madison Police Department advised. “A lot of these crimes — package theft, car theft, and theft from vehicles — are crimes of opportunity. So if we can do our due diligence to mitigate that, that would be in our best interest.”

“If you are the victim of package theft from a porch pirate, if you do have video evidence of a person taking a package, you can submit them into a local police department,” Grigg added. “We will do our best to try and identify that person and hold them accountable.”

Contact the Madison Police Department to report stolen items, or visit the Madison Area Crime Stoppers for more information.

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