Oklahoma Politician Files Bill To Help Fight Porch Pirates

A Broken Arrow lawmaker wants to put an end to porch pirates.

Rep. Ross Ford was a Tulsa police officer for nearly 30 years. He said he hopes this bill sends a strong message - that stealing packages will not be tolerated.

Since getting her package stolen during the day in 2018, Emily Warren said she changed the way she shops for items.

“We actually did not shop online. This Christmas we did everything in store and did in store pickup," said Warren.

Warren said that suspect was eventually caught and went to jail. It's cases like hers that frustrate Ford.

“We should be able to have something delivered to our porch and not having to worry about someone coming onto our property to steal our items," said Ford. 

Ford said seeing porch pirates take countless items when he was an officer prompted him to file the bill. He said right now if a package is taken, it must be valued at more than $1,000 to warrant a felony charge.

"As we raise the misdemeanor charge to $1,000, we had to prove it was worth X amount of dollars before we could file charges on you," said Ford.

Ford said his bill would take out the value of the item, which would allow a prosecutor to pursue a misdemeanor or a felony charge on the first offense. He said if the suspect was caught again, it would automatically be a felony.

“It doesn't matter whether it was $100, or whether it was a contract, or medication that was delivered to your house. As long as it was sealed in a package, delivered to your door and someone removes it from your porch, it's a crime,” Ford said.

Rep. Melissa Provenzano said in a statement:

“I have spoken to Rep. Ford about this bill and I like the idea of it. However, as the bill language is not currently available, I look forward to learning more about of how local law enforcement would be empowered to help curb this growing problem. I hope to be able to give it my support!”.

In the meantime, Emily Warren said she’s in favor of any bill that will hopefully deter people from stealing packages.  

Here’s a link to the bill.