GLENDALE — ‘Tis the season for holiday deliveries, and sadly also the time of year porch pirates are on the lookout.
The proliferation of cameras on our doorsteps has caught plenty of thieves in the act, but in many cases failed to prevent the crime. A local father and son think they have a better solution, and their invention is on sale now.
"It's great that you were able to see your package was stolen, but your package is still gone," said Scott Wiese, referring to those cameras on front porches. “With this, you know your package is there waiting for you. You don't have to call the cops when you get home."
"This," is a product Scott invented with his father after Dick Wiese had a package lifted from his Glendale home. An engineer by trade, Scott liked the idea of Amazon Key, a system where delivery drivers have a virtual key to the house. He didn’t like the idea of those drivers coming inside.
“I said, you know what, what if we adapted that technology and did something on a porch. It's still secure. You still know your package is going to be delivered, but someone doesn't have to come in your house,” said Scott.
Dick Wiese assembles the 24 inch wide boxes by hand. “We have a nice division of labor,” the elder Wiese said. “Scott has got the technology side. I've done a lot of woodworking, so I'll be doing, initially, doing the fabrication.”
Each version of ShypSafe has a lock that delivery drivers access with virtual, mobile technology. The more expensive ShypSafe Cube also comes with the Amazon Cloud Camera and works with the free app.
“You have a history of all the deliveries made (on the app) so you have video evidence of the delivery being done,” Scott said. “You can be sure it was actually put in there. You get a notification on your phone right where it happens, so you can double check at the office or away from home on vacation.”
The Wieses advertise both versions work with any major delivery service. Optional accessories allow customers to anchor the cabinet to concrete, but Scott thinks the main objective is to keep those packages from sitting out.
“I think a lot of these are crimes of opportunity where someone sees something and they're looking for the quick grab,” he said. “Having it secured in something where it's out of sight, out of mind, they're not going to even know something is there.”
For more information on ShypSafe, click here.
