Tips to stop 'porch pirates' from taking your packages this holiday season

The holidays are here and you can be certain those pesky package thieves will be busy. Just ask Rich Sposato of Marple Township, Pennsylvania.

"So the date came, went down to the mailbox to check it out and it was opened when I opened the mailbox. I looked inside, nothing was in there," said Sposato about a recent Amazon package.

Typically, one's first inclination is to call the police, but unless you have a witness or video evidence of the person taking the package, it's difficult to track down the suspect.

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"Even if you get home and say your package is missing, you never got it, there's not much we can do," said Officer Ian Kelly of the Morton Police Department in Delaware County.

With these kinds of thefts increasing almost daily, fortunately, police say there are some steps you can take to avoid having your packages stolen.

"We advise people to make sure they are checking on it, track it, and make sure they have somebody home in order to get the package," said Kelly.

And if that's not possible, coordinate with someone else.

"Make sure that you're contacting your neighbors and letting them know that you're expecting a package, and if you're not home they can go to the house and make sure that they grab the package and nobody steals it," said Kelly added.

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You can also coordinate with the delivery company on where you want them to leave the package.

"So if you wanted it behind the bush or on the back deck or something like that, that way if you're driving by and the people that are typically trying to steal packages can't see it, it's not in plain view," said Kelly.

And if possible, try getting surveillance cameras.

"You can have cameras around your home or you can go with any type of doorbell camera, that way it's motion activated. And that way if someone is coming up to your house, you can either get some type of footage if they do steal your package," said Kelly.