ILLUSTRATION BY ERIN ROLL/STAFF
By ERIN ROLL
roll@montclairlocal.news
Tis the season… for stolen packages, usually. But as of Dec. 28, the Montclair Police Department had received only five reports of package theft for November and December combined, said Montclair Police Lt. David O’Dowd.
The department had been especially vigilant due to a large number of package thefts in surrounding towns, he said.
The most recent reported case of package theft in Montclair took place on Dec. 13. A package containing a pair of $1,200 had been taken from the vestibule of a Seymour Street residence, according to police records.
In Verona, a family had packages stolen from their front step on Dec. 4. A security video showed two men driving a dark-colored Mercedes-Benz vehicle away from the area.
On Friday, police in Clifton released a security video, dated Dec. 11, showing an unidentified man taking packages from a front porch before driving away in a commercial van. The suspect in the video has not yet been unidentified. In a separate incident, police in Clifton arrested a man on Dec. 6 in connection with several recent thefts, including packages from porches.
The U.S. Postal Service referred inquiries about reports of stolen packages to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
Police in Jersey City worked with Amazon to set up a sting operation with hidden cameras and fake packages.
The U.S. Postal Service, UPS and FedEx allow customers to have packages delivered to a location other than their home, such as their workplace or a designated postal center. All three agencies also have apps and other tools to allow customers to track the location of a package in transit.