KSHB 41 reporter Elyse Schoenig covers the cities of Shawnee and Mission. She also focuses on issues surrounding the cost of health care, saving for retirement and personal debt. Share your story idea with Elyse.
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If you're scrambling to get holiday presents shipped to loved ones, you're not alone, and you're right to worry about porch pirates intercepting your packages before they reach their destinations.
A recent survey stated 250,000 packages were stolen every day this year in the United States. The amount of theft and the costs related to the crimes create a massive problem for consumers and retailers.
"We're looking at about $37 billion impact of package theft alone just in the last year," said Dr. Ben Stickle, a former police officer who studies package theft.
Stickle said consumers should consider getting packages delivered to a friend, to work, or to a parcel locker system if they know they won't be home.
"Package theft is a crime of opportunity, and what happens around the holiday seasons, everyone's ordering packages and they're more expensive," Stickle said.
Joseph Beranek knows this concern from experience. He gets packages shipped to The Mail Center in Kansas City at least three times a month because he's had two packages stolen from his building.
"My packages aren't safe in my building where I live," Beranek said.
Tamica Landaeta, director of operations at The Mail Center, says they'll hold packages for 30 days free of charge for customers who are worried about stolen packages.
"We actually have a lot of people who ship packages here instead of their home, just to prevent porch pirates, theft, and just for safety because a lot of travel happens," Landaeta said.
For Beranek, using the mail center service provides peace of mind during the busy shipping season.
"It makes a difference here, [the] safety," Beranek said.
Beranek hopes this extra step means he'll never have to deal with a porch pirate again.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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