The Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Office is warning residents, via its Facebook page, to be wary of criminals stealing packages off doorsteps and from mailboxes — particularly as the number of home-delivered items has increased dramatically since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dallas-based Package Guard, the sheriff's office notes in its social media post this week, reported 74% of packages are swiped during the day while homeowners are at work.

"We've had several mailboxes with items stolen from them and thefts from doorsteps during the day. It's happening quite a bit. However, we are making progress on solving those cases," Sheriff Ruth Ann Dickerson told the Southeast Missourian on Wednesday. "A lot of (theft) is being seen out of mailboxes, especially because Amazon, FedEx and other services deliver seven days a week. If something goes into the mailbox, not everyone checks it every day."

The theft problem appears to precede the more recent spike in online purchasing.

In December 2019, the New York Times reported up to 90,000 packages were either stolen or lost each day in New York City.

"Law enforcement is seeing this all across the country. It's a problem anywhere from the larger cities to the very rural communities," said Dickerson, who has been in the sheriff's department since 1983.

Prevention tips

Dickerson said there are ways to combat porch and mailbox piracy.

"Some companies and businesses are allowing their employees to have packages shipped to their facility, their place of business. When you're working, (criminals) realize you're not going to be home for long hours of time," Dickerson said.

"In some of the larger cities and more populated areas, some communities are setting up their own lockbox, where only the residents who live there have a key — and the UPS or Fed Ex driver can deliver it there and lock it up. In our area, we're seeing people who find a neighbor or relative who normally is home during the hours when packages are typically delivered -- and they direct the shipment to go there," she added.

Two efforts specifically designed to deter doorstep theft are offered by BoxLock and Amazon.

More about these doorstep theft deterrence programs and others in Monday's Business Notebook.