Amazon parcels are set to trap for parcels.

The online shopping market continues to grow, reaching $121,5 billion by the end of the year, up 14% from the third quarter, the U.S. Commerce Department reports. At the moment, the greatest concern of the authorities, buyers and sellers is the numerous thefts of packages. New Jersey police, together with Amazon, have found a way to catch the robbers.

Фото: Depositphotos

Jersey City Police officers installed doorbell cameras and placed counterfeit boxes, bags and crates on doorsteps - each with a GPS tracking device installed inside. All this was waiting for the moment when thieves tried to steal the package, writes Fox News.

We didn’t have to wait long - the first criminal was caught on camera just three minutes after placing the fake package on the doorstep of the house!

“We set the box down on the street and it only took three minutes before it was taken away,” said police Capt. James Crecco, who is overseeing the mission. “At first we even thought it was a mistake.”

The suspect was caught. It is unclear whether he was charged.

According to a 2017 study, packages were stolen from 11 million U.S. homeowners last year. Currently, approximately 53% of Americans are concerned about packages being stolen—especially since 74% of packages are stolen while the owners are at work, exacerbating the problem.

Amazon provided equipment for the program in Jersey City for free, but did not provide information on how many packages from this company were stolen in the United States. This information is also not provided by UPS and FedEx.

“We make sure to report thefts to local law enforcement and encourage our customers to do the same,” said UPS spokesman Glenn Zaccara.

Jersey City police chief Michael Kelly told the Associated Press that the locations for cameras and fake parcels were selected using the city’s own crime statistics and mapped theft locations provided by Amazon.

Фото: Depositphotos

Several Jersey City police officers volunteered to install the technology and arrange the boxes. Michael Kelly said the program was approved by the municipal prosecutor and he hopes to expand this practice with the help of Amazon.

Similar programs have been tried in other cities, including Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Hayward, California.

What Amazon does for parcel security

Amazon works a lot to prevent the theft of parcels, and uses various methods to do this. Earlier this year, technology giant acquired Ring, which makes video intercoms and a number of other home security products, for 1 a billion dollars. The press release noted that "companies will work together to reduce crime in the vicinity ...".

Despite this, some groups opposed Amazon, arguing that the technology giant violates people's privacy with their innovations.

The company also received a wave of criticism of its face recognition technology, Rekognition, from both employees and those who claimed that the technology could lead to mass monitoring in the near future. Recall that in July, Rekognition’s face observation technology mistakenly noted 28 members of Congress as criminals.

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