It seems like both an unenforceable crime, and a victimless crime.
It seems like both an unenforceable crime, and a victimless crime.
"Yes police, hear's a package of my neighbor Gary stealing my package. I bet he's been the one stealing all the other packages on the block too, he's on disability or retired or something and is always home"
"Yes police, hear's the UPS carrier delivering one package and stealing one the USPS driver left".
"Yes police, here's video you can keep. In the event you catch this individual stealing another package from someone you have evidence of another instance".
>and a victimless crime.
If the shipper replaces it then the company is the victim and their shareholders. If the shipper doesn't replace it (perhaps it was a birthday gift from Aunt Milly in Topeka and she's on a fixed income and can't afford to make you another sweater right now) then the recipient is the victim.
Never mind the fact that it is a felony under federal law.
"Hello Amazon? Yes, I'd like to get a refund on the package that my mom sent me. Wh-- no, listen... did you hang up on me?"
Anyway, the plan was to print out the picture of the thief and tape it up as a warning to not steal again, or find out whether the package was in fact delivered in the first place. Luckily, though, we haven't had any more thefts.
(I did end up catching someone stealing my tomatoes, and I later (gently) confronted her about it. She explained and apologized, we made friends, and she gave me some tomatoes from her own garden.)
Was it a neighbor, who just hasn't told you yet?
Was it a malicious theft... by someone you know?
How often do such thieves go by? Which car do they use?
What's the risk? Should you pay for a pakmail/pmb/po box?
Raising the bar to package theft, vandalism, stealing cars and similar can help reduce the chances of it happening in the future.