Chatting with my mail carrier made me flip on package theft

I was loading up my truck in the dark at 5AM yesterday and my usual substitute carrier started complaining about all the Ring doorbells in my neighborhood. He said those cameras just make people more paranoid and don't actually stop theft because thieves know how to hide their faces. Has anyone else had a conversation that totally flipped their opinion on something you thought was obvious?

3 comments

3 Comments

skyler_white22d ago

Interesting point from your mail carrier. Do you think he's saying the cameras are useless because they don't stop the actual theft, or because they just make us feel like we're doing something proactive when we're really not? I've got a camera myself and I check it constantly, but I'm not sure if it's ever prevented a single package thief from walking right up to my porch.

gavine4122d ago

Are we really this worried about random porch thieves?

pat_hall876d ago

I actually read a study from some security company that said cameras do help with recovery rates but not really prevention. Like, something like 60% of porch thefts still happen even when cameras are present because the thieves just don't care or they cover their faces. So your mail carrier might be right that cameras are more about giving us peace of mind than actually stopping the crime. But idk, I still think they're better than nothing, especially if you get one that automatically records and notifies you. Maybe it's just me but I'd rather have the footage to send to the cops than just find an empty box and have no clue who took it.