BLACKSTONE — As residents prepare for the holiday season, Chief Gregory Gilmore and the Blackstone Police Department would like to provide tips for how to prevent theft for residents expecting package deliveries in the coming weeks.
According to the National Neighborhood Watch, nearly one in four adults in the United States has reported having a package stolen at least once.
“The holiday season is a popular time for package theft as people are doing more online shopping and expecting more deliveries,” Chief Gilmore said. “Scheduling a delivery to occur while you’re home or having something delivered to where you are, such as your workplace, is the best measure to protect your deliveries from being stolen. We encourage residents to review the tips below for additional steps they can take to protect their purchases.”
The Blackstone Police Department wishes to share the following tips from the National Neighborhood Watch to help prevent package theft:
- Consider getting a P.O. box at your local post office or having packages delivered to your office
- Set up notifications to track your packages
- Install a security camera in the area(s) outside your home where packages may be delivered
- Require a signature upon delivery to ensure packages are never left unattended
- Reschedule delivery or ask for a package hold when on vacation
- Research potential home security technology and locking device options to protect and monitor packages
- Ask your neighbors to grab your packages for safekeeping until you return home
- If you find your package has been stolen, immediately report it to Blackstone Police
Chief Gilmore would also like to offer tips to holiday shoppers on how to avoid any incidents or theft while shopping in stores and online:
- As more people are on the road during the holiday season, be sure to drive carefully. Be patient when looking for a parking space. Do not speed up in a parking lot to catch an empty spot. Look for other cars or people when backing out of a parking space, and back out slowly.
- Keep shopping bags out of plain sight in your vehicle, preferably in your trunk.
- Keep your purse close to your body or your wallet in an inside coat pocket or front pants pocket.
- Save your receipts and monitor your credit card activity.
- When shopping online, stick to retailers you know or have shopped with before.
- Do not use public Wi-Fi to make purchases in order to prevent hackers from intercepting your information.
The men and women of the Blackstone Police Department wish everyone a safe and healthy holiday season!
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