Free Republic

Gov. Ron DeSantis signs legislation hiking criminal penalties for retail thieves and "porch pirates" "We're not gonna put up with that [...] Your package is gonna be there, and if it's not, someone is gonna have hell to pay." "We will raise penalties [...] They are going to be deterred." "We are gonna hold people accountable."

Florida is taking a strong stand against retail theft and “porch piracy.” Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed into law a bill that would crack down on criminals participating in shoplifting rings and engaging in other types of property crime. While doing so, he took some shots at California and New York for going easy on those committing these offenses. Amid widespread retail theft occurring across the nation, state and local governments are grappling with putting a stop to these operations while others are simply responding with a shrug. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, DeSantis announced...

Shocking video shows a child gleefully shouting "I got it" after swiping a package from a front porch. When the Florida homeowner realized her package was missing, she checked her Ring camera video. That's when she saw the pint-sized porch pirate. The kid is being called the "littlest porch pirate" but it's the adult who is being accused of telling the youngster what to do.

While Canada eviscerates the right to free speech and association, some are apparently holding firm on the privacy rights of accused felons to warn homeowners not to post videos of thefts. In Quebec, the police are now warning citizens not to post their doorbell videos of package thieves because they are, in the words of the spokesmen, “presumed innocent.” Notably, these are scenes captured in public and posted by homeowners who had packages stolen from their doorsteps. For critics, it is a continuation of misplaced priorities and policies on crime including the statement of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that “you...

A group of teens are being hailed as heroes after catching alleged porch pirates stealing packages from an Arkansas home. Ring camera video caught two boys keeping their eye on packages being delivered to a house. When the coast was clear, they grabbed two boxes and fled. However, a group of teens saw the alleged thieves and decided to chase after them. The hero teens counseled the boys as they escorted them back home and advised them to stay out of trouble.

Police in California are taking action against thieves as Christmas quickly approaches. They leave packages with tracking devices in front of houses to catch porch pirates. "We're going to a prearranged residence with the homeowner's consent. They are a prior victim of either mail theft or package theft. We place the package at the front door, and we wait for the signal to go off," said Anaheim Police Officer Andrei Bratiloveanu. Officers are delivering boxes with GPS trackers inside an unmarked black van to bait the thieves. The package is placed at a house that's been targeted twice already. The...

Package Thieves vs. Glitter Bomb Prank 3.0 - Merry Christmas ya filthy animals! #Holidays Former NASA and Apple engineer. Current YouTuber and friend of science. https://www.youtube.com/mark

‘Tis the season for porch pirates. When online shopping deliveries increase for the holidays, so do the number of porch pirate thefts. Porch pirates are thieves who steal delivered packages from other people’s porches. You see it happen all over social media, as victims post videos of porch pirates in the act. “I noticed the Ring doorbell that a lot of people have was showing video after video after video of people stealing packages off porches,” said Scott Ryan. Those videos are what lead Ryan to take action. “I built what I call the Amazon Wall,” he said. The wall...

A California couple was arrested after police say they left out bikes to lure thieves and then recorded themselves beating them with bats which they posted to YouTube, police say. -snip Police say videos of the assaults were posted on YouTube. In the videos, police say the suspects appeared to plant a bicycle in the front yard of their home, unattended, and wait for someone passing by to stop and attempt to steal it. When someone would try to make off with the bike, the suspects would rush from the house and assault the person with a baseball bat.

There’s something about cameras that seems to divide our nation, while at the same time pointing out dizzying differences in terms of how we evaluate the technology based on who is using it. We already know that privacy advocates (for lack of a better term) hate facial recognition software when it’s used by law enforcement of any kind. However, most of them don’t seem to have any problems with Facebook and other social media apps “tagging” them and their friends at the latest party. Speed cameras are also seen as being evil, even if they do occasionally catch violent felons...

LAKEWOOD, Colo. (KDVR/FOX 13) - Porch pirates are a common trend during the holidays, but one Colorado woman took matters into her own hands and refused to become a victim. Renee Abeyta was at her Lakewood home doing chores Wednesday afternoon when she received a notification from her Ring home surveillance system that someone was at her front door. She looked but didn't see anyone. Then, she searched through the recordings her camera captured, and saw an unknown woman grab a package from the front porch, and walk away. Abeyta walked outside and yelled, “Hey!” as she saw the woman...

Tired of Grinches stealing a little bit of Christmas, Jersey City and e-commerce giant Amazon are teaming up to put the fear of Cindy Lou Who into package thieves. Amazon has supplied the city with Ring video doorbells, “dummy” boxes and GPS devices to help catch porch pirates in the act -- or at least on video. The program is the first of its kind on the East Coast, Jersey City spokeswoman Ashley Manz said. It didn’t take long to see how effective the tools, combined with a concerted effort by the police department’s Burglary Unit, could be. “Eight minutes...

BEL AIR, Maryland (CNN/WJZ/Meredith) – Police in Bel Air, Maryland are searching for the person who was caught on camera stealing a package from someone's doorstep. But police say the suspect is no more than eight years old. In broad daylight, a little girl became the center of attention. She's the tiniest porch pirate seen so far, and it's all caught on a home security camera. Vallan Hardison had ordered a pair of boots online. She said she was shocked to find out such a young child came up to her door and stole the package containing the boots. In...

Everybody knows San Francisco is the city with glittering streets — well, glittering because of all the puddles of shattered glass from car break-ins. But there’s another pervasive property crime here that doesn’t get as much attention because there’s no evidence left behind. It’s called “porch piracy,” and it’s the swiping of packages off people’s front steps. All that’s left is an empty doorstep and the resident’s frustration.

This holiday season, Santa Cruz County Sheriff's deputies will place decoy holiday gift packages in front of homes to nab thieves. The boxes contain GPS devices, and whoever steals them will be arrested. Advertisement "You steal a package, you're going to go to jail," Sgt. Chris Clark said. "Don't be a Grinch." Decoy packages will be planted in front of houses owned by residents who agree to participate in the sting. The Sheriff's Office put together a funny Facebook video to announce their unique plan. Watch it in the video players above or below.