New operation to catch porch pirates in Santa Cruz County

UPDATED 11/22/2017 11:00 p.m.

A warning for thieves this holiday season from the Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Office. Deputies have a new way to track people stealing packages off front porches.

The Sheriff’s Office is calling them porch pirates and this year they’re setting out bait to bring them in.

They’re putting packages out on Santa Cruz County porches this week intended for thieves to steal, but each package will have a tracking device in it.

“If someone were to take that box, our detectives are going to be able to see where that package heads off to and you’re going to get arrested,” said Sergeant Chris Clark with the Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Office.

They’re not trying to hide it, they won’t say exactly where they’ll be but they want everyone to know they’re out there.

“The goal is to prevent this stuff from happening to begin with,” Clark said, “If we can apprehend some folks that are responsible for taking this stuff, hopefully that will cut it down.”

And, if you’re expecting a package this holiday, the Sheriff’s Office has a few tips for you as well.

“Lights, surveillance, cameras, coordinating with friends or neighbors to help pick stuff up,” Clark said, “So that your package isn’t sitting there for some delayed period of time to provide potentially an opportunity for someone to take it.”

This isn’t the first time the Sheriff’s Office has tried something like this. Earlier this year they used GPS equipped bicycles as bait to catch thieves.

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Deputies have a new way to track people stealing packages off of front porches. The Sheriff’s Office is rolling out the new program this week to catch these “porch pirates.”

KION’s Zach Fuentes has the story at 10&11.