Warning About Package Thefts

With Christmas just days away, the U.S. Postal Service as well as the giant delivery companies — FedEx and UPS — will be making delivieries.

Thieves are known to follow delivery trucks to scope for packages and Atlanta police have issued warnings in recent weeks about home break-ins because of wrapped gifts under Christmas trees visible from the street and packages left on porches or in open view.

Just in the last few days two Ormewood Park residents had packages stolen from their front porches:

• Dec. 18:  A woman in the 700 block of Woodland Avenue reported a package of her boyfriend's band's shirts was stolen that morning.

• Dec. 17: A man, who also lives in the 700 block of Woodland Avenue reported a package from Brooks Brothers was stolen from his porch between 2:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. Though he has security cameras, the victim reported that the thief took precaution to stay out of range for most of the time.

Delivery companies say they will make arrangements to ensure recipients receive their packages, but it's best to make plans beforehand with them.

If you know you're not going to be home, you can schedule the delivery to be rerourted to your office or the home of a trusted neighbor who will be available to accept, or have it held at a shipment center for pick-up or reschedule the delivery date.

Leaving a note in the door for the delivery driver sometimes works, but they're not obligated to follow those instructions, if a signature is required, or, in the case of the post office, the mail carrier feels leaving the package won't be safe.

In recent weeks several homeowners in Ormewood Park, Grant Park and other communities have reported that teens or adults have been knocking on doors offering to rake leaves or when questioned by neighbors about what they were doing on private property, they gave the "we're-looking-for-yard-work" line.

Problem was that in some of those instances, they didn't have any rakes in hand and in others they'd run.

Police continue to say if you see anything suspicious call them, every time. Not only does it allow them to see if there's a potential crime pattern in a given neighborhood, but it also allows the zone commanders advocate for more officers to be assigned to their specific zones based on calls for service and other data.

The theft of mail is a federal crime punishable by fines, up to five years in prison, or both.