Norwood police offer pick-up service to stop package thieves

NORWOOD, Ohio (WXIX) - It’s that time of the year again... package-stealing season.

With cyber Monday right around the corner, package thieves are licking their chops. But one Tri-State law enforcement department is working to stop the crime before it happens.

Starting Friday, Norwood residents can have their packages delivered directly to the Norwood Police Department.

This isn’t the first time the department has gone to such lengths to protect the community.

“It was a problem,” Norwood Police Lt. Ron Murphy said of recent years’ package thefts. “We were getting complaints and taking reports.”

Historically, package thefts spike at this time of year across the nation due to a sharp rise in the number and frequency of deliveries. Thieves don’t need to go far to find an unattended package on a porch—or to find a mail carrier about to drop something off.

That’s why Norwood PD is once again opening its doors this year.

“We track it, so that when something comes in we date it and put their name on it,” Murphy explained, “so we know how long it’s been there, because we really want people to come in and get stuff within a day or two.”

In the four years Norwood police have done this, it’s grown every year. This year, Murphy says the department anticipates more people using the service than ever before.

“We’ deal with 100 to 200 packages, maybe more,” he said.

In the long run, Murphy argues the service saves the department time and resources.

“It’s a heck of a lot easier to get a package out of an office than it is taking a theft report,” he said.

Even with packages arriving at the station, police still anticipate thieves roaming the area for packages.

Those are reports Murphy will have to take anyways. And it just goes to show, he says, the service Norwood PD officers stops crime after all.

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