Saskatchewan people once again battling porch pirates

Pirates aren’t sailing the seas anymore; they’re roaming your streets.

Porch pirates — thieves who steal things from people’s doorsteps — have been affecting shopping deliveries for a few years now, and it seems these thefts are here to stay.

Saskatoon’s Craig Silliphant recently spoke to 650 CKOM’s Mark Loshack, discussing his porch pirate experience.

“I have a friend who owns a company that makes hummus, and I had ordered some hummus from him,” Silliphant said. “He was going to drop it off at my house one day, and so we had sort of agreed that he was going to text me when he dropped it off.

“But I think he forgot or we had a miscommunication and so hours later I was like, ‘Really, this should have been here by now,’ so I texted him and said, ‘Hey, where’s the hummus?’ And he said, ‘I dropped that off hours ago,’ so I went and looked on the porch (and there was) nothing there.

“We ended up splitting it 50/50 basically so we both had to eat the cost, but it makes you feel violated — the fact that I was at home when it happened and they came right up on the porch and grabbed it while I was there and I was just in the house and didn’t happen to notice.

“This was just some hummus that I bought, but we were talking about Christmas and stuff like that where all these incidents increase. So if you bought toys for your children or electronics or something that even costs a little bit more money, that would feel like a pretty big violation to you.”

The RCMP was unable to provide any recent statistics surrounding thefts like those because those numbers are covered under the “theft under $5,000 category.” They can be included with other thefts that may not be considered thefts by porch pirate.

The Saskatchewan RCMP says there are some precautions people can take during the holiday season to protect their packages.

If possible, people should schedule deliveries for times they know they will be home, and if they can’t be there, they should ask a friend or neighbour to grab it and keep it safe. People should also consider having items delivered to a nearby pickup location or store.

If there is an option to sign for packages upon their arrival, use it. Keep your doorway well-lit and clear. A visible surveillance or doorbell camera may also deter would-be thieves. People also should report suspicious persons or activity to their local police force.

People can report thefts to the Saskatchewan RCMP through online crime reporting. People can use that link if there aren’t any witnesses or suspects, if stolen items are worth less than $5,000, or if there aren’t any items involving personal identity, firearms, licence plates or decals.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an amended version of this story, correcting several spelling mistakes.