Chatham Co. Police warns of increase in mail theft as holiday season approaches

CHATHAM COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - With just days until the busy holiday shopping season, mail theft is on the rise in unincorporated Chatham County.

Police Chief Jeff Hadley briefed commissioners on those latest crime stats Friday morning.

As of November 12th, police say there have been 111 incidents of mail and package theft in unincorporated Chatham this year. That’s up nearly 70% from all of 2022.

New video shows a man swiping a package off of a Shipwatch Road home’s porch early Sunday morning. Incidents like these are happening more often in Chatham County, says Police Chief Jeff Hadley.

“That has been a growing problem in my estimation. I’m not sure what the other jurisdictions are experiencing,” said Chief Hadley.

According to department data, 51 checks in the mail and 34 packages have been stolen in unincorporated Chatham resulting in forgeries and stolen money.

“We’re talking thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars. We’ve been working pretty closely with the United States Postal Service to investigate these incidents. It’s pretty voluminous.”

As many begin to send money in envelopes and have packages delivered this holiday season, Chief Hadley has these tips to keep your mail safe.

“If you have a neighbor or somebody that can secure those at any given time of the day would be helpful. If you can pay online, or you can walk your checks into the post office and drop them inside of that, you’re going to be more protected than you are just leaving them in your mailbox.”

Even with the increase in these types of thefts, Chief Hadley says so far this year overall crime is down more than 9% from 2022.

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