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posted by takyon on Monday April 15 2019, @03:47PM   Printer-friendly
from the soylentnews-special-investigations-bureau dept.

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984

How Amazon Helped Cops Set Up a Package Theft Sting Operation

In response to Amazon packages being stolen from people's doorsteps, police departments around the country have set up sting operations that use fake packages bugged with GPS trackers to find and arrest people who steal packages. Internal emails and documents obtained by Motherboard via a public records request show how Amazon and one police department partnered to set up one of these operations.

The documents obtained by Motherboard—which include an operations plan and internal emails between Amazon and the Hayward, California Police Department—show that Amazon's "national package theft team" made several calls to the Hayward Police Department and sent the department packages, tape, and stickers that allowed the department to set up a "porch pirate" operation in November and December of 2018. The documents also reveal that the bait Amazon packages included real-time location-tracking devices in order to surveil and track anyone who stole a package.

According to an "Operation Plan" obtained by Motherboard, the Hayward Police Department referred to the porch pirate operation as "Operation 'Safe Porch,'" and it lasted from November 12 to December 17, 2018. The document describes package theft in Hayward as a "significant problem" during the holiday season, and it characterizes Operation Safe Porch as a way to "arrest/prosecute those individuals committing this criminal activity."

"The operation will emphasize a pro-active approach in the suppression of this criminal activity and with the use of 'bait' packages affixed with GPS tracking devices, Surveillance and Covert Operations, Probation/Parole Searches and potentially Search Warrants," the document reads.

The document claims that the Hayward Police Department Criminal Investigations Bureau, units form the Hayward Special Investigations Bureau, and Hayward Crime Analysis all assisted with Operation Safe Porch. It also notes that the program was run four days a week, for 10 hours per day, and outlined the GPS, radio, and vehicles that were used in the program (including "an assigned undercover vehicle for surveillance and covert operations.")

Related: Amazon Plants Fake Packages in Delivery Trucks to 'Trap' Drivers Who Are Stealing
Jersey City PD, Amazon work together to catch package thieves
Hacker Makes a Flawless Booby Trap, Strikes Back Against Package Thieves


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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Thexalon on Monday April 15 2019, @04:32PM

    by Thexalon (636) on Monday April 15 2019, @04:32PM (#829917)

    Insider theft is common in both retail and warehousing. It's apparently common enough that Amazon put together a montage of people they'd caught [retaildive.com].

    One way to reduce your odds of getting caught are to attack a weaker point in the system. And it doesn't take a genius to figure out that the weakest point in the system is typically the several hours that a package sits completely unattended outside on somebody's porch. That way, you don't have to smuggle the goods out of the warehouse right under management's nose.

    As for why they do this, what kind of loyalty would you expect to be able to buy for $8 / hour and no real prospects of career advancement?

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