Some of you may have had your packages being stolen from outside your home. It continues to be a problem for many people and now police in Jersey City are using a new method to try and catch package thieves. They’re putting fake Amazon boxes outside people’s homes with cameras and GPS in order to get to the culprits.
The Associated Press reports that police users the doorbell cameras and GPS trackers provided by Amazon to track and capture the thieves. Their operations are targeting the most at-risk areas in the city that have been identified from Amazon’s theft reports and crime data.
The operation is reportedly yielding the desired results. In one instance, the package was only on someone’s front porch for three minutes before a thief picked it up. Police later apprehended the suspect but it’s unclear what that person was charged with.
Given that the word about these sting operations is now out, perhaps that would serve as enough of a deterrent to prevent people from stealing packages from peoples’ homes. The program is currently limited to the homes of Jersey City police department members who volunteered to take part in it. Jersey City Police Chief Michael Kelly tells The Associated Press that he wishes to see it expand now that it has also received approval by a municipal prosecutor after a legal review.
Filed in .. Source: apnews