Kent County Sheriff Warns About Holiday Porch Pirate Surge

It's the most wonderful time of the year! But your holiday cheer could be soured if you don't heed the latest warning from the Kent County Sheriff's Office.

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While we all like to think that we have it together and we'll get everything that we need for Christmas in plenty of time, we all know the reality. Inevitably, there will be that one random thing that you forgot about that you have to rush to order online and pray to the delivery gods that it arrives on time.

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With the uptick in deliveries to homes this time of year, we also see an uptick in deliveries being stolen from porches.

Kent County Sheriff Urges Residents to Be Aware of Porch Pirates

There are some simple things that you can do to protect your purchases from would-be holiday hijackers, according to the Kent County Sheriff's Office.

• Make sure to track your deliveries. Whether they're being delivered via Amazon, USPS, UPS, FedEx, or another carrier, most, if not all, of them give the ability to track your packages.
• Bring packages inside as soon as possible. The longer a package is sitting out in the open, the higher the chance that some ne'er-do-well could notice it and walk away with it.
• Set up cameras. In this day in age, it's smart to have cameras monitoring the areas where your packages are generally delivered at all times. (And, it turns out, thieves don't like to be caught on camera, so they work as a deterrent.)
• Don't leave packages in your vehicle. Car break-ins have been rampant throughout the area for the past few years, so you should never leave valuables in your vehicle.

Check out the Kent County Sheriff's Office's pirate-pun-filled post about package plundering here. I particularly enjoyed the comment from Kent County Recycling and Waste,

Ahoy there, matey! Don’t be tossin’ them cardboard treasures into the briny deep! Flatten those brown beauties and put them in your recycling bin, where they can be made into new treasure boxes!

And speaking of recycling, take a look at the things that you can and can't recycle this holiday season.