LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - In Kentucky, packages delivered to your front door by UPS or Amazon don’t have the same legal protection as those delivered by the U.S. Mail.
A Kentucky state senator from Louisville is trying to change that.
Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the peak holiday shipping season. Which means there are even more opportunities for package thieves.
“I never thought somebody would come up to my porch,” WAVE 3 News Anchor Dawne Gee said.
Gee’s home security system captured video of a thief running up to her front door and snatching a package that had just been delivered.
The theft occurred even though her home has plenty of cameras, security signs, and a couple of large dogs barking inside of it.
“In my mind, if you’re stealing from someone’s porch, what comes next for you,” Gee said. “Will you break into someone’s home?”
“If we don’t do something I’m really worried it’s going to escalate,” State Senator David Yates (D-Louisville) said.
Yates has pre-filed a bill to make stealing packages a felony. Right now, he said packages are not given the same protection as U.S. Mail.
“This is about protecting your rights within your home, protecting you from thieves, and making sure that someone is held accountable for stealing from you,” Yates said.
If passed, he said the bill would give law enforcement another tool to break up package theft rings.
“I have people in my own building downtown that have to have items delivered to their work because they can’t have them delivered to their porch, and that’s just not right,” Yates said.
Gee said she now sends packages to the TV station instead of her front door. The whole experience has left her upset.
“How can people do that to others; it’s shameful,” Gee said.
Whether this bill gets passed into law or not, there are some ways you can protect yourself from package theft. You can have the packages shipped to your office or in some cases the shippers will let you hold them at their facilities.
The Kentucky Legislature can take up the bill when it goes back into session in January.
Copyright 2021 WAVE 3 News. All rights reserved.
chocolateboomslang on November 27th, 2021 at 09:37 UTC »
Stealing packages is the stupidest thing ever. How many times do these idiots get home and open up some soap? A pack of socks? When someone steals something and they have no idea what is inside, it should count as the highest bracket, because that's what these people are aiming for.
ZeroAfro on November 27th, 2021 at 07:56 UTC »
We had a law passed in Texas that makes stealing packages a felony. If it's 10 or less then it's a state felony and then after that it goes from a second-degree felony to a first-degree depending on the amount.
Orcus424 on November 27th, 2021 at 04:57 UTC »
Many porch pirates don't just steal one package. They go around and steal many packages. Which would equal enough money to be considered a felony in most states. The thing is if the cops aren't catching the porch pirates. Maybe they are thinking if they make it a felony the cops will start to care about catching them.
You would think Kentucky would not need this new law because home owners would be shooting the porch pirates on a regular basis.