TAMPA, Fla. — COVID-19 has a lot more people staying home and ordering items online.
Now, as the holiday season approaches, there’s concern that combination could bring out even more would-be porch pirates this year.
So, now through Dec. 21, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office is helping people avoid getting "pinched by the Grinch" by offering a pair of package pick-up locations at no cost.
“You don’t have to live in Whoville for your holiday presents to fall into the hands of a Grinch,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said in an announcement released on Facebook.
Which is why HCSO is launching “Operation Pinch a Grinch."
“We do investigate these crimes. And our aim is to find them,” HCSO spokesperson Natalia Verdina said. “But we are just going to try to be proactive in offering the service, where we can try to prevent it from happening in the first place.”
Through Dec. 21 you can have your online orders delivered directly to the agency's District 3 location at 7202 Gunn Highway in Tampa, or the District 5 location at 10128 Windhorst Rd. in Tampa.
There, they’ll be safely kept until you come to pick them up. You'll just have to show proof of purchase and a photo ID.
“Hopefully, people take advantage of this,” Verdina said. “And with time these porch pirates will recognize that there really is no sense in what they do because people are finding more secure ways of having their packages delivered.”
People who responded to a porch pirate survey say in very few cases -- only about 11 percent -- were the thieves ever caught. But about three-quarters of package theft victims say they eventually got a refund.
According to marketing insight company C+R Research, 36 percent of Americans say they’ve had a package stolen at least once – and of those, 44 percent say it’s happened at least twice.
That includes Clovis Alford’s family, who were among the 274 porch pirate cases last year in Hillsborough County.
“It’s a good idea,” Alford said. “Because the sheriff is the police. So, I don’t think they’re going to come and steal nothing from a police officer.”
“They are secure, a deputy will be watching them,” Verdina said.
Fewer packages being pilfered also means fewer cases to investigate.
HCSO’s pick-up locations will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. The sheriff's office asks that items sent to be picked up at those locations weigh 50 pounds or less.
There’s also one more benefit to HCSO’s Pinch a Grinch program. If you do your shopping through Amazon Smile, half a percent of the value of your purchase can also be donated to agency charities.
“This was a very tough year on so many fronts,” Verdina said. “This is just one way of making sure or trying to make sure that at least in this way when it comes to gifts, that those really do end up where they’re supposed to.”
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