BALTIMORE — To deter porch pirates and other crimes, the Federal Hill Neighborhood Association is working with law enforcement and the court system by submitting video evidence.
The video is from home surveillance camera systems.
"What we’re trying to do is connect events that are done by the same suspect and is identified through the video," said Brad O'Brien.
What neighbors look for are repeat offenders. So far, they've been able to identify multiple people while raising awareness. The goal is build a greater case against the suspect.
"If you can cross the $1,500 threshold, then it’s considered a felony and then through the States Attorney's Office and through the Court Commissioner's Office it can be charged differently. It could be tried differently," said O'Brien.
Councilman Eric Costello has worked alongside FHNA.
"Neighbors are doing their part. Police are doing their part. Now we need the courts to do their job," said Costello.
Costello is referencing the fact that despite evidence and charges against some porch pirates, some are being released.
"The message to the District Court Commissioner is very clear," he said. "We want you to do your job. We want you to ensure that an individual is held accountable so that there’s no more victims of what this individual who has been perpetrating in our community."
Even if an individual is let go, Fed Hill told WMAR-2 News it won't stop with its community surveillance.
"It's not going to keep us from stopping because we think what we’re doing makes our community a safer place to live," said O'Brien.
If you believe that you have been a victim of package theft from this alleged suspect, please do the following:
- File an online police report here.
- Gather you shipping invoice/receipt to declare the value of items lost. Any item that has been stolen, no matter how small, is still theft and a crime.
- Fill out our package theft form so we assist in filing charges here.
