BROKEN ARROW, Okla. -- Multiple people on Oakridge Street have already fallen victim to package theft this season.
With grant funding through the state, police are adding patrols to empty roads to deter criminals from making homes a target.
Residents said without a visible police presence, theft has become a growing problem. Officers said they'll be working overtime to address what they've seen as a spike in car break-ins, theft and purse snatching.
This recently became an issue on Kenosha Street.
"Someone was loading groceries into their vehicle and another vehicle drove by them close enough to lift the purse out of the cart as they were driving," Officer James Koch said.
Police are largely looking to make sure packages are not stolen off of porches. Marlon Baker said between asking a friend to pick up a package and tracking activity through a camera on his front porch, he did everything he could to prevent this.
"It showed the UPS truck dropped the package off at 1:50 and the thief came and got it at 1:56 so evidently they must be following the trucks around, the UPS trucks, FedEx, US Postal trucks around," Baker said.
Just two days later, a different set of thieves took cushions off the porch. Now, Baker is planning ahead.
"We cancelled all the other shipments we had through Amazon. And we're going to get a post office box down here," he said.
The homeowner said he and his neighbors look out for each other, but after speaking with UPS he learned thieves have been constantly following trucks across the city.
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