Watch out for porch piracy ahead of the holiday weekend

SALISBURY, Md. — Today is Black Friday, but sales will be going all weekend long. Salisbury police explained porch piracy ahead of the busy shopping weekend.

Salisbury Police Department Chief David Meienschein said, “Anytime you get around the holidays, folks know, or individuals who would commit these types of crimes, know that there are more and more packages getting delivered as we approach Christmas.”

SPD officials are warning folks to track their packages this season as porch pirates prepare to strike

“What they do is these porch pirates, they’ll intercept those back just before the owner or the rightful owner comes home or whatnot. Sometimes it’s we don’t hear about it for a day or two, until the individual realizes the package has been stolen.”

Chief David Meienschein said it’s not a huge problem in Salisbury, as many residents may not realize a package is missing.

“We certainly encourage anyone who has a Ring camera and any camera footage, if they’re a victim of anything getting stolen off of that in front of their house, it’s been delivered. Please call us right away so we can get ahead of it.”

If you are Black Friday shopping this weekend, here are a few tips to avoid theft!

“We do run into a lot of situations where folks think the car was locked. Don’t try to leave any packages out in the open. Try to make sure they’re in the trunk of the car or in someplace where they’re not readily available to make it more of a target,” said Meienschein.

Another best practice is parking in a well-lit area, Chief Meienschein added that the city will be patrolling more this week.