The Grinches who steal Christmas

Austin makes the naughty list as one of the worst U.S. metros for porch pirates

Consider decking your halls and porch with some security measures to ward off package pirates this year.

Courtesy photo

Guard your porches this holiday season, Austin. The Capital City ranks as the sixth worst U.S. metro area for package theft.

SafeWise, an online platform that promotes home safety and security, combed through FBI theft data as well as Google Trends data for searches like “missing package” and “stolen package” to come up with its ranking.

While sixth place isn’t anything to celebrate, it’s worth noting that Austin ranked third on SafeWise’s 2020 list. And folks here have it better than those in Denver, which holds the top spot among the worst metro areas for package theft.

Plus, Austin has some good company on the SafeWise list. The San Antonio metro area ranks fifth, maintaining its same place on last year’s list.

In a SafeWise survey of 1,000 American adults, 64 percent reported being victims of package theft during the previous 12-month period. And 72 percent of those surveyed say the COVID-19 pandemic has made them more concerned about porch piracy, up nine points from last year’s survey.

More than half of all stolen packages were valued at $50 to $200, the survey shows. Amazon deliveries represented 54 percent of the stolen packages, followed by FedEx (16 percent), the U.S. Postal Service (11 percent), and UPS (9 percent).

Fifty-eight percent of recent victims of package theft reported using a security camera or video doorbell camera. And that appears to have paid off for some of them, as 34 percent caught the porch pirate on camera.

“Package theft is a crime of opportunity. The more packages left for longer periods of time on a porch, the more likely they are to be stolen. As the Christmas gift season gets into full swing, there will be a significant increase in packages on a porch,” says SafeWise adviser Ben Stickle, an expert on criminal justice and package theft.

Based on results of the SafeWise survey, it’s estimated that 210 million packages disappeared from porches across the country in the previous 12 months.

“Porch piracy is a low-entry crime. There are no special skills needed to walk up a driveway and steal a package,” says Stickle, an associate professor at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

High Tensions

Local climbing gyms locked in public feud over South Austin space

Crux Climbing Center/Facebook

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Austin's climbing community has been rocked by a real estate dispute between two gyms.

In a social media post on Tuesday, Crux Climbing Center claimed that The Bouldering Project - Austin (ABP) negotiated with the landlord of Crux's South Austin location without their knowledge.

"It's honestly beyond heartbreaking to learn that another climbing business would do this to us. We are the ONLY local climbing gym in Austin," Crux wrote in the post, adding that, "There is room in Austin for multiple climbing gyms, and this was unnecessary."

Crux said it will have to let go of some of its employees, but it plans to create "something better" at a new location.

But ABP says Crux's claim isn't accurate.

In its own social media post on Wednesday, the climbing gym said that it is excited to add a third location in Austin, but felt it needed to address Crux's comments.

ABP said in 2022, Crux publicly shared plans to relocate its Pickle Road gym and, more recently, the landlord told ABP that Crux declined his terms to remain at that location, so he offered the space to ABP.

"We’ve always wanted to provide roped climbing to our members, so we signed a lease for the space. ABP did not interfere with the relationship between Crux and their landlord," the gym said. "We’re surprised by Crux’s response, given their plan all along was to close and relocate."

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

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