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Crime

Amazon Helps Cops Set Up Package Theft Sting Operations (vice.com) 135

Posted by EditorDavid from the boxes-with-smiles dept.
An anonymous reader quotes Motherboard: In response to Amazon packages being stolen from people's doorsteps, police departments around the country have set up sting operations that use fake packages bugged with GPS trackers to find and arrest people who steal packages. Internal emails and documents obtained by Motherboard via a public records request show how Amazon and one police department partnered to set up one of these operations.

The documents obtained by Motherboard -- which include an operations plan and internal emails between Amazon and the Hayward, California Police Department -- show that Amazon's "national package theft team" made several calls to the Hayward Police Department and sent the department packages, tape, and stickers that allowed the department to set up a "porch pirate" operation in November and December of 2018... Several other cities around the country -- including Aurora, Colorado; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Jersey City, New Jersey; and Hayward, California -- have also conducted porch pirate sting operations aided by Amazon. Jersey City, New Jersey -- like Hayward, California -- put GPS-tracking devices inside the dummy packages. Aurora and Albuquerque, meanwhile, used doorbell cameras from Ring -- which is owned by Amazon -- to capture video footage and surveil for theft.
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Amazon Helps Cops Set Up Package Theft Sting Operations More

Amazon Helps Cops Set Up Package Theft Sting Operations

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  • Better plan (Score:1, Insightful)

    by religionofpeas ( 4511805 )

    I have a better plan: Amazon talks to their shipping partner and tells them to ring the doorbell and actually deliver the package to a person, instead of leaving it on the porch. And if they're not paying enough for that, they should pay them more.

    • Disagree. Having to be home to get packages would be a huge pain for me. Whereas if porch piracy were shut down (at substantial cost and inconvenience), the people who do it would just start stealing by other means.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        Whereas if porch piracy were shut down (at substantial cost and inconvenience), the people who do it would just start stealing by other means.

        Most theft happens because the theif thinks she will get away with it. The shock of getting caught often causes a fundamental change in behavior. My younger sister used to shoplift. When she got caught, she cried for days. The shop did not even press charges.

        • Whereas if porch piracy were shut down (at substantial cost and inconvenience), the people who do it would just start stealing by other means.

          Most theft happens because the theif thinks she will get away with it.

          Yes and no. Theft happens because people has a bad moral and think he or she can get away with it.

          It may have tones of thought police but I've always felt that stings and entrapment are the way to go to get people with bad morals to reveal themselves as the criminals they are or will be given the right circumstances - and have them prosecuted.

      • the people who do it would just start stealing by other means.

        Most crime is opportunistic. If you remove the opportunity, you remove the crime.

        It is a fallacy to believe there is a "fixed" amount of crime that is just shifted around by enforcement.

        If porch piracy is deterred, some thieves may look for other criminal opportunities (likely with a worse cost-benefit), but others will decide it isn't worth it, and get honest jobs instead.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by Fringe ( 6096 )

          This is B.S. You are assuming all people are essentially chaotic-neutral, and that an opportunity automatically results in crime. In short, you are BLAMING THE VICTIM.

          A more educated response would be to acknowledge that SOME people commit MOST of the crimes. Use this lower-hanging fruit as a mechanism for purging the rotten apples, rather than your approach of blaming society for creating an opportunity.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by dfm3 ( 830843 )
        Seriously, why can't Amazon just work with their shipping partners to implement a user preference that gets passed on to the delivery truck operator. When I check out online, let me choose between "only deliver to a live person", "ring/knock but heave package on porch" and "leave package quietly".

        • Good luck with that. The amazon delivery folks around here pretty much suck. One of em delivered a package to our work, left it out on the sidewalk in front of our door instead of walking in. Mind you, one of my coworkers was standing there watching this through the glass doors and windows. How hard is it to open a door and at least throw the package inside instead of outside?

    • <p class="humor">That works great if you live and work in your Mom's basement.</p> In all seriousness, street addressing for PO Boxes or mailbox providers is in the only reliable way to go if nobody is typically home.
      • You can have stuff delivered directly to your car to your boat your airplane or I guess even your spaceship are use the Amazon lockers at the whole foods is only a couple blocks in my

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by geek ( 5680 )

      I have a better plan: Amazon talks to their shipping partner and tells them to ring the doorbell and actually deliver the package to a person, instead of leaving it on the porch. And if they're not paying enough for that, they should pay them more.

      THIS! My god, I had an amazon package come the other day. I was standing in my fucking garage next to my front door and the mother fucker didn't even acknowledge me, just dropped it at my door and walked away. Not the UPS guy, the actual Amazon Prime truck guy.

      Worse still, I can now look on my phone and see their truck as its coming towards my house. It'll say "Six stops away" and show me each stop they go to. I could get in my car and follow the guy and just steal every package he drops off at that point.

    • I have a better plan: Amazon talks to their shipping partner and tells them to ring the doorbell and actually deliver the package to a person, instead of leaving it on the porch. And if they're not paying enough for that, they should pay them more.

      Bad idea. Stealing packages out of my front door is no different from stealing mail out of my mailbox, and I shouldn't have to be forking extra money in my shipping costs so that Amazon can pay shipping companies the xtra cost of face-to-face delivery.

      Additionally, for many of us who are out of homes most of the day, it is extremely inconvenient to have to limit our purchases to face-to-face deliveries only. This is an inane requirement that can not be easily met by the average customer. Just think about

      • Stealing packages out of my front door is no different from stealing mail out of my mailbox...

        Stealing US Postal mail, unlike stealing non-USPS packages, is a felony prosecuted by the feds. FYI.

        • Stealing packages out of my front door is no different from stealing mail out of my mailbox...

          Stealing US Postal mail, unlike stealing non-USPS packages, is a felony prosecuted by the feds. FYI.

          I know. The thing is, it is a lot easier to track things stolen off one's doorstep than from a mailbox located further out. I have cameras that can check who steals them off my doorstep, but I can't (physically) have the same set up for my mailbox.

          Having Amazon (or Ebay or whoever sends me packages) work with LEOs to tackle this problem, I embrace, even though I acknowledge the icky factor of big companies partnering up with law agencies in the form of tracking.

      • If you have the option, get it delivered to your workplace. This is my standard method for anything of significant value. A secretary is always there to sign for it and hold it until I can run it to my car.

        • Not necessary. My boss bought stuff on Amazon and let them deliver to the office all the time. On occasion (rare but noticeable), the delivery guy left the package "outside" at the entrance of the building instead of coming into the building and to our office. What would you do about that?

        • If you have the option, get it delivered to your workplace. This is my standard method for anything of significant value. A secretary is always there to sign for it and hold it until I can run it to my car.

          Yes, this is what I do whenever I have an employer that lets me. It's the best option.

          Also, Amazon also have pick up places not far away from my house, but not necessarily in my way of commuting. It's a toss-up.

    • That is the wrong business decision. It is cheaper for Amazon to just take the loss.

      Even retail stores like Walmart routinely write-off over 10% of their goods due to theft and fraud because it is cheaper to do so. If they buckled down, they could stop it, but the cost of doing so plus the fact that far fewer would shop there because of the inconveniences makes it a losing deal. This is why they don't even do simple things like open a box up and see what's in it when you make a return. Legit customers don't

    • ring the doorbell and actually deliver the package to a person

      You can sign up for delivery alerts.

      You will get a notification on your cell a few seconds after the deliverer scans the barcode and drops the package on your porch.

  • Felony (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Let me guess... cops wouldn't be wasting time on minor misdemeanors stings. They'll be planting items in the box which has value that meet or exceed the felony level charges.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Good. Teach people to keep their hands off of other people's stuff. It's not asking that much.

  • What bother's me about this (Score:4, Interesting)

    by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Sunday April 14, 2019 @09:51AM (#58435550)
    is there's way more [epi.org] wage theft (not, "I got paid less than I deserve" but "I got paid less than I was legally owed") than robbery but we've got around 1000 cops nationwide pounding that beat and several hundred thousand on robbery.

    For this you can't even argue there's the risk of violence. Package theft if done while no one is looking.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by classiclantern ( 2737961 )
      There are a couple of things about this that bother me. If the package was delivered by the US Postal Service (USPS) then the theft is a Federal crime. Why are city police sticking their nose into it. The victim most likely does not even live in the same state and there is no "victim". When my $14 package of screws was stolen I had some very nice video of the "Ass-crack Bandit" as he came to known. The Post Office was not interested in seeing my video, nor was my local police. I reported to Amazon tha

      • There are a couple of things about this that bother me. If the package was delivered by the US Postal Service (USPS) then the theft is a Federal crime.

        Once the package is on the doorstep, it's delivered and no longer a Federal crime to steal it.

        Amazon reports the loss to their insurance provider and Amazon is reimbursed. Amazon is not the victim.

        Are you sure Amazon doesn't self-insure?

        • Once the package is on the doorstep, it's delivered and no longer a Federal crime to steal it.

          I'm not so sure that is the case. You can be charged with a Federal crime stealing mail out of a mailbox. I certainly wouldn't want to be the one to test this theory anyway.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by kenh ( 9056 )

      Well, perhaps the victims of "wage theft" should start reporting their "stolen" wages to the authorities. Ever heard the saying "squeaky wheel gets the oil"? People complain when thier packages are stolen, wage theft victims likely don't follow-up with their employer, let alone file claims with the proper state body.

    • We have an entire branch of the Federal government [dol.gov] with 17,000 employees dedicated to fighting wage theft. You can argue they're not doing a good enough job, or that the victims aren't reporting the crime enough. But it's hardly unaddressed.

      Also, your source seems to have cherry picked specific robbery statistics to try to push their narrative. According to the FBI, robberies cost $465 million in 2016 [fbi.gov], nearly double the wage theft your source specifies.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by GuB-42 ( 2483988 )

      Apple and oranges.
      "Wage theft" is civil law. It is you against your employer, and it is about contract matters. You know exactly who to accuse. You need lawyers on your side more than you need cops.
      Package theft is criminal law. You don't know who stole your package, and you need cops to catch the thief.

  • Is that a word now?

    What the fuck is wrong with "monitor" or "observe"? Particularly given the typical dictionary definition of "surveillance".

    English is weird.

  • So? (Score:3)

    by onyxruby ( 118189 ) <onyxruby@ c o m c a s t . net> on Sunday April 14, 2019 @10:14AM (#58435616)

    Unless your a porch pirate, how could this possibly cause trouble? Police work with companies all the time to help stop theft and fraud. Why is this news?

  • This is fine, but really - with mail order now being so common - everyone really needs a locking mailbox that accepts packages. These exist, assuming the delivery people are smart enough to use them. Granted, you can't fit a huge package in them, but most will fit.

  • In rural or suburban areas, porch pirates usually drive their own vehicles. I've seen dozens of videos of porch pirates stealing packages and then hopping into a car. But without the license plate, it's not enough for the police to find them.

    Set up a license plate reader (LPR) camera, and you can give the cops something to work with. That assumes, of course, that the police will bother to take action even with the license plate.

    • Can't comment about porch pirates in particular. But I manage a commercial building in a strip mall, and set up video cameras to help fight robberies of our tenants. I got high-resolution 4k+ cameras, and positioned them so they can easily read license plates of passing cars. When there's a robbery, we turn the license plate numbers over to the police. Most of the time it turns out the vehicle was stolen. One time the thieves had put paper dealer tags (the kind you get with a new car before it's issued a

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by djinn6 ( 1868030 )

        The simpler solution would seem to be one-way drop-doors like you find in mailboxes. The package deliveryman and just drop the package inside, and it'll fall into your garage or (for an apartment) a holding room.

        That would require infrastructure changes, which wouldn't work in crowded locations. It's also expensive, ugly and limited in size.

        So there's no simple one-shot solution to catching the crooks. You'd be entering a protracted arms race, where each side will try to one-up each other to catch / avoid being caught.

        Yes there is. Simply booby-trap the boxes to go off when someone tries to move them. It can be done with a Raspberry Pi and an accelerometer, or just some strings glued to the porch if you're into low-tech. If they're going to steal the box, they can't get around moving it.

  • Current Modus operandi;
    walk up to door,
    pick up package,
    walk away,
    profit!

    Now it will be

    Walk up to door,
    pickup package,
    walk away,
    stuff into heavy Mylar bag to block GPS and Cell signals.
    Profit!

    • stuff into heavy Mylar bag to block GPS and Cell signals.

      Foil coated mylar bag. Mylar itself is mechanically altered PET (the stuff drinks bottles are made from) and doesn't block anything on its own.

  • This would not only increase the coverage of finding thieves but also serve to discourage future thefts once word got out. Customers can return to GPS devices back to Amazon at either a local lockbox/Whole Foods or mail them back if necessary with a prepaid label.

  • Because they are Amazon? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by RhettLivingston ( 544140 ) on Sunday April 14, 2019 @11:28AM (#58435954) Journal

    We've recently seen stories in which a Tesla had video of a man breaking the window that included his face and license plate and where video doorbells were filming those that stole them. In both of those stories, the police had little to no interest in pursuing the case.

    In both cases there was also a high probability that the individuals had committed strings of those crimes. Catching the individuals could prevent a lot of theft and damage. It is very possible they have priors and could get very significant time. If not, given that they know who is doing things, they should be able to do a bit of police work and prove the pattern. Who knows, perhaps they'll have a pile of doorbells in their home ready to sell on E-Bay or a little surveillance on the car could catch them doing other drive-by Tesla break-ins.

    In both of those cases, I saw many responses on comment sites with worse things that police didn't care to pursue including grand theft auto and night-time residential B&Es.

    I've personally had night-time B&Es twice. In both cases I knew who did them. One was an officer and another was someone who had a restraining order against them. Both managed to leave blood evidence. In both cases, the police didn't feel the case worth the time and cost of pursuit. My interpretation was that I was not in upper class neighborhoods where these things matter.

    Yet, Amazon is able to get them to spend time on package theft? Why? Are they also paying them or giving a kickback perhaps? Just because they are Amazon? Citizens don't matter but companies do? What's the deal?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Chozabu ( 974192 )
      It also sounds like they contacted the police multiple times before managing to go ahead, the first bunch of attempts probably failed

  • Cops don't care (Score:3)

    by WolfgangVL ( 3494585 ) on Sunday April 14, 2019 @03:46PM (#58436954)

    The magic words are "DRUGS" and "GUNS" That's what motivates our for profit police, things they can seize. Anything else is just incidental.

  • Amazon already sells a way to prevent radio tracking from devices hidden inside delivery boxes: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=myl... [amazon.com] Thieves can bring the boxes back to a room that is also RF shielded, remove the RF tracking devices, deactivate them, & sell them on Amazon & Ebay.

    I think a better solution is for Amazon & its customers to stop creating tempting opportunities for theft out in the world we all have to live in. I don't want Amazon to encourage thieves to patrol my neighbourhood looking

  • Deterrence (Score:3)

    by stikves ( 127823 ) on Sunday April 14, 2019 @09:06PM (#58437962) Homepage

    I had my packages stolen, and then started having them delivered to my work location and/or amazon lockers when available. It is inconvenient, however safer.

    The main driver of the issue is that police will not have the resources to look at small crimes. In fact, it seems like they will not be able to prosecute if the item costs less than $1000 or so: https://www.latimes.com/opinio... [latimes.com]

    The thieves know this, and they would not care even if they get caught. This is not a good thing for our society. If we do not have resources to prosecute them we should at least put some method of discouragement. Community service, or financial penalties, or some another method to prevent future thefts.

    Otherwise we would essentially give up the sanctuary of homes, and hence civilized society.

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