Porch Pirate season is here: How can you protect yourself?

HOUSTON - As the holiday shopping season begins, expect an increase in the incidence of porch pirates swooping into neighborhoods to steal packages. A report, this month, from the home and personal security research company, Safewise, finds Houston-area residents suffered the fifth-worst losses to porch pirates in the country last year at 1,500,000 incidents and more than $207 million in losses.

Stopping it takes some work.

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Across the country, the sight of porch pirates brazenly taking what doesn't belong to them can leave most of us scratching our heads. That's what Michelle and Kevin Kyle told us last Christmas, when they were victimized.

"They were so bold. They just came up, didn't look around, picked it up and took off, like it was theirs."

It's such a problem crime that, in some case, pirates have been caught tussling among themselves to steal a package left for delivery. But despite an estimated 58 million packages valued at $12 billion stolen over the past year, it is often little more than a simple theft in the eyes of the law. 

"The one-off, single reporting of a single incident is almost never going to get your property back," says U.S. Law Shield's Kirk Evans. "And it's probably not going to be a deterrent."

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If a thief steals a package from your porch, there's often not a lot you can do about it. There's generally not enough value to make a police report worth anyone's while. A big response for a lot of people is installing a security camera that may act as a good deterrent. If more of your neighbors do the same thing, there's a better chance the thieves will move along.

Another option that's fraught with risk is using a gun to protect what's yours. Texas law is clear that using force like pushing, shoving, grabbing, even pepper-spray or the 'threat' of a weapon is fair game. But Evans says using 'deadly force' will get you in trouble, and probably let the pirate off to pillage another day. 

"The second you discharge that weapon, it is deadly force, whether you hit them or not," he says. "Whether you fire a warning shot or into that ground, that is not permitted under Texas law to stop a simple theft."

The real teeth in Texas law, where porch pirates are concerned is in 'volume'. When many thefts are tied to the same people, that can be a felony and prison. Meantime, in between the passive security camera, and thinking about using a weapon, some people have tried booby-traps. Be careful with those, as the law says you can scare somebody, but not hurt them.

Other options to protect your packages include scheduling delivery when you'll be home, or collecting them up from designated 'pick-up' locations at participating retailers.