State Assembly Muratsuchi bill targets ‘porch pirates’
rb porch pirate
Torrance police arrested Justin Dabu on suspicion of stealing packages. A State Assembly bill would target organized package theft rings. Photo courtesy Torrance Police
State Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi plans to submit a bill during the next legislative session to clamp down on package theft rings by including their activities in existing RICO statutes. It would make organized package theft a felony.
The Assemblyman and his staff were the victims of package theft themselves, according to Muratsuchi. A package of official items was dropped off at a Huntington Beach-area UPS and “apparently never reached its destination,” Muratsuchi said.
“As more and more people are doing holiday shopping online, we’re hearing more and more reports of package theft, especially by so-called ‘porch pirates,’” Muratsuchi said. “We’ve consulted with some of our friends from law enforcement and are working on this bill to give law enforcement agencies an additional tool.”
Muratsuchi’s proposed legislation targets groups of people conspiring to steal packages, from thieves casing neighborhoods to drivers following delivery trucks. The bill also appears, in part, to be a response to lessened sentences for misdemeanors and increases to the petty theft dollar value threshold caused by AB 109 and Prop 47.
“Law enforcement agencies are telling us they don’t have the resources to go after these misdemeanor violations,” Muratsuchi said. “This bill is going to allow for individual package thefts to be prosecuted as felony offenses.”
The bill’s current language does not include individual thieves. Muratsuchi staffers say that the bill may also include serial package thefts by repeated offenders who are acting alone, though Muratsuchi said there was interest in combining separate, repeated crimes by individual thieves.
“We’re still fleshing it out, discussing our draft with various law enforcement agencies,” Muratsuchi said.
The legislative session doesn’t resume until Jan. 3. In the meantime, local law enforcement is still dealing with package theft issues. On Dec. 7, Torrance Police arrested Justin Dabu on suspicion of theft, catching him immediately after the theft of a package from a porch on the 3400 block of 227th Street. A search of his apartment recovered additional stolen property.
According to Redondo Beach Police, 11 package thefts have been reported between Nov. 1 and Dec. 12, a minor uptick from 10 reports over the same period in 2016.
“As soon as residents realize something is stolen, contact RBPD,” said Capt. Jon Naylor. “More info is better — if there’s a model, make, color, brand, serial number, anything we can put into a database to track and ID.”
Police also recommend using secure drop sites, such as Amazon.com’s locker system, or coordinating with neighbors.