SF crime epidemic: ‘Porch pirates’ swiping packages from doorsteps

Amazon packages are popular targets for “porch piracy,” the swiping of packages off people’s front steps. Amazon packages are popular targets for “porch piracy,” the swiping of packages off people’s front steps. Photo: Jorge Villalba/Getty Images/iStockphoto Photo: Jorge Villalba/Getty Images/iStockphoto Image 1 of / 34 Caption Close SF crime epidemic: ‘Porch pirates’ swiping packages from doorsteps 1 / 34 Back to Gallery

Everybody knows San Francisco is the city with glittering streets — well, glittering because of all the puddles of shattered glass from car break-ins.

But there’s another pervasive property crime here that doesn’t get as much attention because there’s no evidence left behind. It’s called “porch piracy,” and it’s the swiping of packages off people’s front steps. All that’s left is an empty doorstep and the resident’s frustration.

Now that many San Franciscans do nearly all their shopping online, packages from Amazon and other internet retailers pile up outside front doors like giant building blocks, especially during the holidays.

The packages are easy pickings. Residents have even reported seeing thieves following delivery trucks, stealing each package within minutes after it’s dropped off. Nextdoor and other neighborhood online groups are filled with gripes about packages gone missing and photos taken from security camera footage of the culprits.

The problem has gotten so bad, the phrase “Amazon package stolen” is Googled more often here than in any other city in the country, according to the packaging company Shorr.

We’re No. 1! Sigh.

Miriam Karpilow said she and her husband no longer order anything that will be delivered to their condo in the Lower Haight. It’s guaranteed to be snatched.

“Anything that doesn’t fit in the mail slot, we’ve had it stolen,” she said. “We’ve had toilet paper stolen. ... We lost Sonos speakers. I lost a big box of maternity clothes, which I hope somebody found useful. ... I lost cat medication once. Enjoy that. Enjoy your Gabapentin!”

For those who don’t have cats, that’s a medication used to reduce pain and anxiety in felines. Poor kitty.

Karpilow, director of employer relations for the University of San Francisco, tried posting notes telling delivery people not to leave packages, but she said they’d leave them anyway or try to hide them under the doormat. Shockingly, that didn’t work.

Now she uses Postal Chase, a private shipping company that also receives and keeps packages for clients.

Scott Whelan, a real estate broker who lives in the Richmond, said he and his wife have had at least three packages stolen from their home in recent months — including a computer. Now, he tries to ensure that all their orders come with a tracking number and a signature required upon receipt.

His security camera is no help. “It’s not a deterrent — you just get a picture of who was on your front porch,” Whelan said. “There’s nothing you can do other than sit on your front porch all day.”

I put out a call on Twitter for stories of package theft in San Francisco, and the responses came fast and furious.

A woman with the Twitter handle @maybelle had coincidentally just tweeted, “’Tis the season — for stolen packages from your front porch.” She just had a Black Friday purchase and a gift snatched, and saw empty boxes from other addresses strewn in front of her house in the Richmond.

Another woman said that last week alone, she had a delivered scooter and a Blue Apron meal kit stolen. (That is perhaps the most San Francisco sentence ever typed — and yes, in a city with huge wealth and crushing poverty, it’s no wonder some people are stealing items left out in the open.)

Another Twitter user in San Francisco said he and other residents in his apartment building help each other out by bringing all packages inside as soon as they spot them. Another pointed to an effort by Campbell police to use bait packages with GPS tracking devices inside that alert police when a package is moved.

San Francisco police said anybody whose package is stolen should call them immediately. Investigations are typically done in conjunction with the U.S. Postal Service, which has recently been asking police departments to go on social media to promote tips for avoiding package theft.

Among them: Have your mail held at the post office while you’re out of town, ensure that package senders give you a tracking number, use the hold-for-pickup option and request signature confirmation.

“This type of crime is reported regularly all around the Bay Area and beyond, not just in San Francisco,” said David Stevenson, spokesman for the Police Department.

Package thefts, like car break-ins, are tracked by San Francisco police under the category “larceny theft.” There were 35,217 reports of larceny theft in the city this year through October, a 9 percent decrease from the same period last year.

However, larceny theft is up in the Mission, the Tenderloin and the Central Station, which covers the city’s major tourist destinations including Union Square, Lombard Street and Fisherman’s Wharf.

A Facebook group for San Francisco moms was discussing package theft over the weekend. Their tips included asking your neighborhood Walgreens to receive your packages, having them shipped to your office, installing a wooden box on your porch to keep them somewhat hidden — or, simply, stop ordering online and shop locally instead.

Michael Murphy, a Potrero Hill resident who works in e-commerce, said he once saw a woman reach through his neighbor’s front gate and walk off with a package. He said he called 911 and was put on hold — and meanwhile followed the woman down the hill in his car.

He got out, approached her and took the package back.

“I said, ‘You stole this package, and I’m going to return it,’” he said. “This is certainly a very passive, nonthreatening crime, but at the same time, it’s no fun to have your packages stolen, whether it’s dog medicine or kids clothes or a present.”

Michelle Champawat, who lives in the Inner Richmond, said she was looking out her window Monday and saw a delivery man toss packages in front of three homes without ringing the doorbell.

She wasn’t sure whether to retrieve the packages and bring them into her home for safekeeping.

“What if somebody thinks I’m stealing it?” Champawat said.

In this city? Hardly anyone would blink an eye.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Sundays and Tuesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf