Your package was finally delivered, but can you get to it before it gets swiped?

Package theft in Baltimore is becoming more common — and happening fast, said Deanna Tochterman, co-owner of Tochterman’s Fishing Tackle in Fells Point.

So-called “porch pirates” seems to arrive right on the heels of U.S. Postal Service and other delivery companies.

“Amazon will pull up, put the package somewhere, and two seconds later, another car pulls up, someone runs, grabs it and gets back in the car,” Tochterman said.

All year long, but especially with the onslaught of deliveries right before Christmas, porch pirates abound. And that means Baltimore residents have to get creative about fending them off.

Baltimore didn’t make the list of worst cities for package theft, but the metro area is sandwiched between second-place Philadelphia and fourth-place D.C. in the report last month by SafeWise. Of the estimated 120 million packages stolen last year, those two cities saw a combined 6.4 million snagged by thieves.

Amazon deliveries were stolen most often, followed by USPS, FedEx and UPS, according to SafeWise.

Thieves are getting smarter, but so are companies and residents. Amazon has recommended customers track their packages, provide delivery instructions, ship to alternative delivery locations (like an Amazon Hub), and install home security devices.

Jess Taylor’s Upper Fells Point house came with a package delivery box, but she’s taking additional steps to protect her packages. The 36-year-old moved there from Parkville in October.

“We’re actually going to put some cement down so you can’t just grab it and run away with it,” she said of the delivery box. “We’ve had some packages that were stolen, and now we have a Ring camera that also overlooks the box so we can see when things are delivered instead of it just being on the front stoop.”

Taylor also added delivery instructions to her Amazon account.

Package drop boxes like the one Taylor uses typically cost between $50 to $200. More often than not, she said, delivery drivers put packages in the box.

“If someone sees a package there, they’re more tempted,” she said. “But if it’s in the box, it would take an extra step to look inside.”

Locally, Baltimore County takes the top spot for larceny, or theft of personal property, with more than 16,000 offenses this year, according to the county’s crime database. Baltimore doesn’t fall far behind at nearly 10,500 reported incidents.

Tochterman’s fellow business owners look out for each other and bring packages in whenever possible, she said. Other businesses, including Mid-Atlantic Spinal Rehab and Chiropractic Downtown Baltimore, try to schedule deliveries to prevent theft.

“We set delivery orders for our business hours to make sure that someone’s actually in the office to receive them,” said Veronica Suchite, a chiropractic assistant. “Typically, with UPS, if we’re not in the office, like, if we went out to lunch or something, they’ll just leave one of those notes that they’ll try again.”

Florida, Missouri, Kentucky and Pennsylvania have successfully made package theft a felony in recent years.

Maryland Del. Karen Toles of Prince George’s County introduced a bill last February to make the theft of mail and packages a felony subject to imprisonment of up to five years.

The Porch Piracy Act of 2024, also known as House Bill 946, died in the Maryland General Assembly judiciary committee.