UPDATE: Police share tips on keeping packages safe as Senate Bill 23 seeks to crack down on ‘porch pirates’

The measure would turn the class B misdemeanor into a class D felony.

UPDATED STORY POSTED JANUARY 27, 2022 AT 10:00 P.M.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ) – As Kentucky Senate Bill 23 now moves to the full state Senate for consideration, area police are weighing in with tips on how to keep your packages safe.

Georgetown Police Lieutenant Mitch Lair says that with the COVID-19 pandemic, online ordering and utilizing delivery services have become even more popular.

“As time has passed and definitely during COVID, obviously more people are shopping online, more people are ordering things and having it delivered. Porch piracy has been more prevalent during this time,” said Lieutenant Lair.

Lieutenant Lair says it always starts with being vigilant in your neighborhood, being especially aware when you see someone stowing packages in bushes or fences, or when you see a vehicle that’s unfamiliar.

“Some things to kind of lookout for are suspicious vehicles, and what I mean by suspicious vehicles, vehicles that are not common in that neighborhood and have been by multiple times, multiple days,” said Lieutenant Lair.

Lieutenant Lair also says the use of doorbell cameras has been helpful with catching the crooks and reminds people to show that footage to police.

“Cameras around your house can be preventative…people will see that and realize that maybe they don’t want to mess with that security feature or come onto your property. If they do take your package or whatever you have there on your front porch, it’s a great investigative tool to have for us. And with some apps, you may be able to see it in real-time so you can let us know,” said Lt. Lair.

Thursday, the Kentucky Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously voted on the bill, which would make it a class D felony to steal or destroy packages from common carriers, such as Amazon, UPS, or Fed-Ex.

Under current state law, stealing mail or packages is a class B misdemeanor, which bill sponsor, Sen. David Yates, D-Louisville, says creates a ‘loophole’ when prosecuting criminals.

“Because of that loophole, people are not being prosecuted. You could assign a detective for a class B misdemeanor and we could solve it, but we’ve learned in practice that’s not enough,” said Sen. Yates.

With the increasing use, largely sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic, of mail delivery services for important items such as medicine and food, Sen. Yates says the theft problem has gotten too big, especially in urban areas such as his hometown of Louisville, to simply be a misdemeanor.

“I’ve talked about people who’ve been victimized over and over again with theft from their front porch, whether it’s medicine or things that are important to them, whatever it is,” said Sen. Yates.

It will be up to the full Senate to decide what punishment fits the crime.

ORIGINAL STORY POSTED JANUARY 27, 2022 at 2:40 P.M.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ) – A measure moving through the Kentucky Senate aims to rein in porch pirates, a nickname for people who steal packages off front porches.

Sponsored by Sen. David Yates, D-Louisville, Senate Bill 23 would make it a class D felony to steal or destroy packages from common carriers and delivery services – similar to the penalty for stealing U.S. mail. The measure cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee without opposition on Thursday.

Yates said SB 23 is needed to curb theft rings and close a loophole that treats packages from delivery services differently than mail from the U.S. Postal Service. Yates said porch pirates are a growing issue in Louisville that he fears will only escalate.

“There’s a loophole in the law. At the time we passed this some 40 years ago, we did not consider the type of commerce that we have today,” he said. “There wasn’t the Amazon, the FedEx and all the other delivery courier services. So, they’re treated different under the law today.”

Yates said he has talked with people who have been victimized over and over again. Some have had medicines or other important items stolen, and crime rings have been known to move from city to city, trolling neighborhoods in vans.

Yates said he is usually hesitant to increase misdemeanors to felonies, but he reasoned that the bill simply brings the other carriers into conformity with the postal service. The bill also has support from the Fraternal Order of Police, he said.

Sen. Wil Schroder, R-Wilder, voted for the measure, but also expressed concern about switching misdemeanors to felonies.

“Like you, I am hesitant to start making misdemeanors felonies, and if it’s a $5 package, a felony can seem kind of steep,” he said.

Sen. Phillip Wheeler, R-Pikeville, said the seriousness of the problem led him to vote for the bill.

“While I obviously don’t want to make $5 crimes a felony, this is merely bringing up modern commerce and making it commensurate with theft of mail,” he said. “When we all see these news stories where crime has gotten so rampant in big cities, where organized gangs are even robbing trains, we thought we left that behind in the 19^th Century, and now we’re seeing that once again, especially in our metropolitan areas.”