Thousands of Christmas presents will be left by mail carriers outside homes across Iowa in the coming weeks and police warn that “porch pirates” are watching and waiting to steal those packages. Jason Cloudt is with S-E-I Security Solutions, which has an office in Des Moines. He says if you’re not home to monitor what is delivered to your doorstep, you should take steps to protect your purchases.

“The most popular things out there today are video doorbells,” Cloudt says. “They’re simple little devices that can replace the button you have by your front door now. They have a camera built in.” The video doorbells come in a wide range of prices.

“The do-it-yourself items can start under $100. The professional doorbells that we install are between $250 and $350,” Cloudt says. Many of the video doorbell systems can be linked to your phone.

“Some of the less expensive options may not be tied to your smart device, but the most common devices have the ability for you to just launch an app on your phone and watch live or get an alert when there is live video – someone either pushing the button or someone who is within view of that camera on your front door,” Cloudt says.

If you’d rather not spend money on a camera system, police suggest having packages delivered to your workplace.

(Radio Iowa)