The Police Put Tracking Devices in Amazon Boxes to Catch Thieves

Jersey City Police started placing fake Amazon deliveries in areas that have reported the highest numbers of thefts, in order to attempt to apprehend package thieves.

The Jersey City Police Department are cooperating with Amazon for the operation and they’re not only installing GPS trackers in the boxes but also doorbell cameras to get the best possible evidence for conviction.

Soon after one of the first boxes was placed in front of a door, the Police already had to deal with their first perpetrator in no more than three minutes from the moment the box had been left at the address, according to police Captain James Crecco.  “We thought it was a mistake at first,” he said.

Neither Amazon, UPS or FedEx have provided any figures about how many packages are reported either stolen or missing and have only stated that they “report them to local law enforcement when we hear of them” and that they encourage the customers to follow the same course of action.

The program has been reviewed and approved by a municipal prosecutor before it was implemented and the city hopes to expand it with assistance from Amazon.

Amazon in the meantime is quite tight-lipped about it and has declined to answer any questions about the program, choosing to focus on showing their appreciation for the local law enforcement and stating that the company is ready to help out in any way it can in order to make sure package theft will become a thing of the past.