With Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, and Americans' newfound affinity for online shopping, the country has reached record numbers of orders on the great wide web. That also means quite a few packages dropped off in front of people's houses.
And when unsecured boxes with valuables in them are left alone on stoops and doorsteps, they're likely to get stolen.
The Denver Police Department doesn't want you to become a victim -- and there have been a lot of victims just this year.
Up to today, there have been 537 packages reported stolen.
Because they care about you -- and maybe because they like saying "#PorchPirates" -- the Denver Police Department has put together some helpful tips so you can keep all of the cool stuff you ordered.
- Have your packages delivered to a safe place
- Track your deliveries so you can be home when they arrive
- Choose a shipping option that requires a signature
- Ask your shipping company to hold your packages at their facility so you can pick them up later
Package theft is a growing problem in Denver. According to the DPD, the number of packages reported stolen by this time last year was around 420. Even that was way up from 324 in all of 2016 and 313 in all of 2015.
