U.S Postal Service Investigator provides tips to protect packages from porch pirates

Courtesy: United States Postal Service
Courtesy: United States Postal Service

(Fargo, ND) -- A regional postal inspector is sharing ways to keep your packages safe from theft as the holiday season approaches.

Rachel Williams is a Postal Inspector Team Lead who works with a Regional Contraband Investigation and Interdiction Team that covers North Dakota, Minnesota, and parts of Western Wisconsin. Williams says people talk about package theft pick up around the holidays more often, especially during Christmas, but she says the reality does not reflect the conversations.

"There actually has not been an overall uptick in mail theft recently, "said Williams, "We keep an eye on this... there does tend to be an increased awareness of it during the holiday season."

The U.S Postal Service does recommend multiple ways to reduce the chances of mail theft happening to you. Williams recommends sending the package to a secure location that isn't your home may be a good start; this includes places like work, an Amazon locker, a PO box, keeping the package at a mailing location, or even having a neighbor keep the mail for you to pickup later. She also recommends speaking to neighbors in the event of a missing package because the thefts often happen across a whole neighborhood at once instead of being a single instance.

In the event of a mail theft, Williams recommends filing a police report to help authorities track theft incidents in the region or filing a report with the United States Postal Service directly via the USPIS website.

Original Air Date: 
Wednesday, November 23, 2022