The Laurelhurst Blog has reported several incidents of theft of packages delivered by UPS or FedEx to neighborhood homes. Sometimes called Porch Pirating, package theft tends to peak during the holiday season of gift-giving in December. A cluster of incidents such as has been reported in Laurelhurst this summer may indicate that porch thieves are following the delivery trucks.
Some ways to ensure safe delivery of packages are to consider taking delivery at your workplace; use package tracking to anticipate delivery and be there to receive it; take delivery as signature-required by a neighbor who would agree to receive the package for you. Some porches might be configured to have a corner alcove where the package is not visible from the street.
You can sign up for Blockwatch via the link on this page and network with neighbors to keep an eye on package deliveries. Neighbors should keep alert for cars which come along behind delivery trucks or pull over to the curb and appear to be watching the truck. You can look at the list of police reports on the Neighborhood Map to see what types of crimes are occurring. Most of the recent package thefts, however, have not been reported to police.