A doorbell camera in Chesterfield, Virginia, recently caught a person snatching a box containing a $1,600 latest iPad from the arms of a FedEx delivery driver. Barely a day goes by without an analogous report. Package theft, sometimes called “porch piracy,” is an enormous crime business.
While the value tag of any single stolen package is not extreme — a study by Security.org found that the median value of stolen merchandise was $50 in 2022 — absolutely the level of package theft is high and rising. In 2022, 260 million delivered packages were stolen, in keeping with home security consultant SafeWise, up from 210 million packages the 12 months before. All in all, it estimated that 79% of Americans were victims of porch pirates last 12 months.
In response, a number of the big logistics firms have introduced technologies and programs designed to stop the crime wave. One of essentially the most recent examples set to soon go into wider deployment got here in June from UPS, with its API for DeliveryDefense, an AI-powered approach to reducing the danger of delivery theft. The UPS tech uses historic data and machine learning algorithms to assign each location a “delivery confidence rating,” which is rated on a one to 1,000 scale.
“If now we have a rating of 1,000 to an address that implies that we’re highly confident that that package goes to get delivered,” said Mark Robinson, president of UPS Capital. “At the opposite end of the size, like 100 … can be certainly one of those addresses where it might be probably to occur, some kind of loss on the delivery point,” Robinson said.
Powered by artificial intelligence, UPS Capital’s DeliveryDefense analyzes address characteristics and generates a ‘Delivery Confidence Score’ for every address. If the address produced a low rating, then a package recipient can then recommend in-store collection or a UPS pick-up point.
The initial version was designed to integrate with the present software of major retailers through the API —a beta test has been run with Costco Wholesale in Colorado. The company declined to offer information related to the Costco collaboration. Costco didn’t return a request for comment.
DeliveryDefense, said Robinson, is “a good way for merchants to assist make higher decisions about learn how to ship packages to their recipients.”
To meet the needs of more merchants, a web-based version is being launched for small- and medium-sized businesses on Oct. 18, just in time for peak holiday shipping season.
UPS says the choice about delivery options made to mitigate potential issues and enhance the client experience will ultimately rest with the person merchant, who will resolve whether and learn how to address any delivery risk, including, for instance, insuring the shipment or shipping to a store location for pickup.
UPS already offers its Access Points program, which lets consumers have packages shipped to Michaels and CVS locations to make sure secure deliveries.
How Amazon, Fedex, DHL try to prevent theft
UPS is not alone in fighting porch piracy.
Among logistics competitors, DHL relies on certainly one of the oldest methods of all — a “signature first” approach to deliveries through which delivery personnel are required to knock on the recipient’s door or ring the doorbell to acquire a signature to deliver a package. DHL customers can opt to have shipments left at their door and not using a signature, and in such cases, the deliverer takes a photograph of the shipment to offer proof for delivery. A FedEx rep said that the corporate offers its own picture proof of delivery and FedEx Delivery Manager, which lets customers customize their delivery preferences, manage delivery times and locations, redirect packages to a retail location and place holds on packages.
Amazon has several features to assist make sure that packages arrive safely, similar to its two- to four-hour estimated delivery window “to assist customers plan their day,” said an Amazon spokesperson. Amazon also offers photo-on delivery, which offers visual delivery confirmation and key-in-garage Delivery, which lets eligible Amazon Prime members receive deliveries of their garage.
Debate over doorbell cameras
Amazon has also been known for its attempts to make use of latest technology to assist prevent piracy, including its Ring doorbell cameras — the gadget maker’s parent company was acquired by the retail giant in 2018 for a reported $1 billion.
Camera images might be essential when filing police reports, in keeping with Courtney Klosterman, director of communications for insurer Hippo. But the technology has done little to slow porch piracy, in keeping with some experts who’ve studied its usage.
“I do not personally think it really prevents numerous porch piracy,” said Ben Stickle, a professor at Middle Tennessee State University and an authority on package theft.
Recent consumer experiences, including the iPad theft example in Virginia, suggest criminals may not fear the camera. Last month, Julie Litvin, a pregnant woman in Central Islip, N.Y., watched thieves make off with greater than 10 packages, so she installed a doorbell camera. She quickly got footage of a girl stealing a package from her doorway after that. She filed a police report, but said her constructing’s management company didn’t seem desirous about providing much help.
Stickle cited a study he conducted in 2018 that showed that only about 5% of thieves made an effort to cover their identity from the cameras. “Loads of thieves, after they walked up and saw the camera, would simply take a look at it, take the package and walk away anyway,” he said.
SafeWise data shows that six in 10 people said they’d had packages stolen in 2022. Rebecca Edwards, security expert for SafeWise, said this reality reinforces the view that cameras don’t stop theft. “I do not think that cameras on the whole are a deterrent anymore,” Edwards said.
The best delivery crime prevention methods
The increase in packages being delivered has made them more enticing to thieves. “I believe it has been on the rise because the pandemic, because all of us got loads more packages,” she said. “It’s against the law of opportunity, the chance has turn into a lot greater.”
Edwards said that the 2 most-effective measures consumers can take to thwart theft are requiring a signature to go away a package and dropping the package in a secure location, like a locker.
Large lockboxes start at around $70 and for essentially the most sophisticated can run into the hundreds of dollars.
Stickle recommends a lockbox to guard your packages. “Sometimes people will call and say ‘Well, could someone break within the box? Well, yeah, potentially,” Stickle said. “But in the event that they don’t see the item, they’re probably not going to walk as much as your own home to try to steal it.”
There is at all times the choice of leaning in your neighbors to look at your step and infrequently sign for items. Even some local police departments are willing to carry packages.
The UPS AI comes at a time of concerns about rapid deployment of artificial intelligence, and potential bias in algorithms.
UPS says that DeliveryDefense relies on a dataset derived from two years’ value of domestic UPS data, encompassing an in depth sample of billions of delivery data points. Data fairness, a UPS spokeswoman said, was built into the model, with a spotlight “exclusively on delivery characteristics,” slightly than on any individual data. For example, in a given area, one apartment complex has a secure mailroom with a lockbox and chain of custody, while a neighboring complex lacks such safeguards, making it more susceptible to package loss.
But the UPS AI just isn’t free. The API starts at $3,000 per thirty days. For the broader universe of small businesses which are being offered the online version in October, a subscription service will likely be charged monthly starting at $99, with a wide range of other pricing options for larger customers.
