Colorado company creates device aimed at stopping 'porch pirates'

FREDERICK, Colo. -- A Colorado company says there's finally a way to beat “porch pirates."

It’s that time of year when Amazon, UPS, and FedEx are regular visitors at your home. With millions of packages expected to arrive on doorsteps following Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it is also the time of year for package thieves.

“Oh, it’s the season for porch pirates, for sure,” Kelly Whitmer told KDVR.

He knows because this time last year, he fell victim.

“Just couldn’t believe it happened. It happens to somebody else, not you,” he said.

The Whitmers don’t have a doorbell camera, so they don’t know what happened to their purchase.

“No, I wish we did, but I don’t know if they do any good. You just get a picture of them taking it and leaving,” he said.

He and his wife came up with a plan to stop package thieves.

After several months of prototypes, they came up with a product called the Porch Pirate Lock Box. It’s a lockable metal parcel container that can be secured to your home, patio or porch with bolts.

“You leave the lock unlocked. They put the boxes in and then they lock it,” Whitmer said. “There’s no way a thief is going to spend the time to take it.”

He said it’s a simple device that could end up saving you from having to rebuy your stolen stuff.

“People assume that the manufacturer and the shipper cover the cost but they don’t. They’re taking pictures now to prove it was on your porch that they delivered it and if it’s missing it’s on you,” Whitmer said.

The one real drawback is when you are expecting more than one delivery in the same day. In that case, Whitmer suggests trying to just use one delivery service, staggering your delivery dates or having more than one lockbox on your porch.