FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — The Fayetteville Police Department and Arkansas Security give tips on how to prevent porch pirates from stealing packages.

“It’s an easy crime that people can get away with and, unfortunately, take advantage of this season of giving,” said Matthew Hendrick, lead technician at Arkansas Security.

He says this is the time of the year when most calls start coming in about security, but often, he says it’s in situations when it’s too late.

“This time of year, people doing maintenance on their system as they’re getting ready to go out of town or something like that,” said Hendrick. “Unfortunately, people are getting equipment installed because something has already happened.”

That’s why he encourages customers to get prepared before the holiday season which includes cameras, doorbells with cameras, and motion detectors. He says in his experience, these are what helped catch porch pirates.

“It gives the police something to go on,” said Hendrick.

“The Ring doorbells, and the Nest cameras and stuff like that have been revolutionary in our line of work. It helps us a lot,” said Sgt. Tony Murphy with the Fayetteville Police Department.

He says it is a tool that’s helped in many ways since 2020, but he says package thefts happen the most during the holiday season.

“I think that’s also helped see a slight decrease in these incidents since then,” said Murphy.

As for keeping a lookout for porch pirates, Murphy recommends ways to prevent thefts.

“They could have delivered to work. They could have a drop box where they could have it delivered to where they can pick that up. They could have a neighbor pick it up and let a neighbor know that something’s going to be delivered,” said Murphy.

Murphy and Hendrick say you should be more alert when shopping online and on Black Friday.

Murphy encourages people who have been a victim of package theft to contact local police. He says to let officers know what was in the package and if this is a recurring situation.