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How To Avoid Missed Deliveries, Package Theft -- Chicago Police Give Tips

By Mina Bloom | November 27, 2015 6:08am | Updated on November 30, 2015 8:48am
 Seen this guy? He's been stealing packages in Lincoln Square.
Seen this guy? He's been stealing packages in Lincoln Square.
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LINCOLN PARK — Chicagoans are getting more packages delivered to their homes as they prepare for the holiday season, which means more thieves are out there snatching them up.

"Package theft is a big problem for us this time of year. We want people to be mindful," Sgt. Jason Clark said at a recent Town Hall district police meeting.

Earlier this month, a number of package thefts were reported in Lincoln Park, with one caught on surveillance video. There's also a package thief on the loose in Lincoln Square, who was caught on video this week.

Clark urged residents to make sure their homes look occupied by leaving lights on. His advice is to never have packages delivered to an empty house.

That might mean asking a neighbor to accept your package, getting it delivered to work or using a service like Doorman, which recently expanded to Chicago. 

Another tip: Make sure your sidewalk gets shoveled when it snows. Fresh snow with no footprints makes it seem like no one is home and thieves are more likely to grab a package, he said.

A couple residents at the meeting said some postal service workers don't ring the doorbell and leave packages out in front haphazardly without them knowing, which could lead to theft.

Clark said he's heard of that happening to other neighbors as well, and is working with local postal service carriers to make sure that happens less frequently.

In addition to Doorman, Lincoln Park-based Shurpa Delivery offers scheduled evening package delivery until midnight. Customers get their packages shipped to Shurpa's office, 2727 N. Halsted Ave., and then Shurpa notifies the customer when it arrives and schedules a delivery that works best for the customer.

Old Town resident Ben Fornell founded the company, which launched last Thanksgiving.

“It seemed like I was spending every Saturday at the post office,” Fornell said in a statement. “I thought, in this age of on-demand services, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to receive packages when we’re actually home. It’s been exciting to see how many people are using Shurpa and realizing how easy it is to make getting packages, at home, on their schedule.”

There's also LT Distributing Center, LLC, an e-commerce company that sells a secure, weatherproof delivery drop box called the iBin, which was designed to protect people from theft.

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