Member Article

Police record almost 4,000 parcel thefts in past 2 years

British police forces have recorded 3,715 instances of parcel theft in the past two full calendar years (2018 and 2019), according to official data released by iParcelBox – the smart parcel delivery solution.

The data was obtained via the Freedom of Information act, and analysed official responses from 35 out of 49 police forces in the UK. It found that there were 1,838 reported incidents of parcel theft in 2018, compared to 1,877 in 2019 – the slight increase suggests that police have not yet implemented an effective method to combat this crime.

Essex Police recorded the most instances of parcel theft in the past two years by a large margin, with 443 reports – 232 of these occurred in 2018, compared to 211 in 2019. Second, was Kent Police, with 353 reports – 170 in 2018, up to 183 last year.

Third and fourth most reports were held by Hertfordshire Constabulary and Merseyside Police. The former recorded 249 reports, 135 in 2018 and 114 in 2019; the latter recorded 247 reports of parcel theft, 96 in 2018, up to 151 in 2019.

Port of Dover Police and South Wales Police both recorded zero instances of parcel theft across both years, and City of London recorded just 12 instances in over the two years.

Paul Needler, Founder, iParcelBox comments:

“It’s clear that police forces across the UK are failing to affectively get a grip on thieves who continue to target unattended parcels in residential areas across the UK.

“As things stand, this is understandable – in some cases, an unattended parcel is very easy for an opportunistic thief to steal, and very difficult for police to track down. Therefore, online shoppers must take safety precautions into their own hands, this involves investing in a smart parcel delivery solution so that uncollected, often valuable, mail can be stored safely in a weatherproof, locked, box, until the addressee is home.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Nick Till .