Package Theft

[Jason Howes]

Good evening, everyone:

Is it just us, or have the number of stolen packages from Amazon, Walmart, etc. really gone up lately? I had an idea that might help with the situation and I wanted to run it by the community.

What if we mounted a fake/old video camera (I have one of both) around the mail kiosk and put a "Video in Progress" warning below the camera:

I hate to resort to this, but it's getting very frustrating. Regardless, I'd be more than happy to contribute a camera and do the work, but I obviously wanted to run it by you first.

Best,

Jason

3 Tannery Brook Row Apt 8

Somerville, MA 02144

+1 (617) 501-0984

www.howes.org

[Steve Cicala]

Hi Jason--That would be fine by me. At the risk of jinxing it, we have somehow managed to never lose a package--though they have pretty regularly been delivered to the wrong address (somewhere else around the lofts). I don't know how we've escaped thus far.

Steve

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[Jason Howes]

Thanks for your input, Steve. I'll wait a week or so before putting the camera and sign up, in case anyone has objections.

Best,

Jason

3 Tannery Brook Row Apt 8

Somerville, MA 02144

+1 (617) 501-0984

www.howes.org

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/homeowners-3-4-tbr/CAN%2BbNZcx_5BZBU7ki9%3Dhws%3DJLC0HB%3DD4E3TQ2vU1y63cfED%2BLA%40mail.gmail.com.

[Susie Purcell]



Hi Jason, 

Sorry for the late reply.  I have no objection to a “fake camera”, although I wonder if something untoward happens, (injury), are we as a condo liable if we say we have a camera but we don’t…

I have interrupted one porch pirate from my balcony, and in my limited experience they don’t read signs, and don’t care about cameras.   It might be helpful if when we are collecting our own mail/ packages, we text others to alert them of a delivery.  Not a solution, but might help.

Susie

Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 16, 2026, at 2:01 PM, Jason Howes <jason...@gmail.com> wrote:



Thanks for your input, Steve. I'll wait a week or so before putting the camera and sign up, in case anyone has objections.

Best,

Jason

3 Tannery Brook Row Apt 8

Somerville, MA 02144

+1 (617) 501-0984

www.howes.org

On Wed, Jan 14, 2026 at 2:14 PM Steve Cicala <sci...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Jason--That would be fine by me. At the risk of jinxing it, we have somehow managed to never lose a package--though they have pretty regularly been delivered to the wrong address (somewhere else around the lofts). I don't know how we've escaped thus far.

Steve

On Tue, Jan 13, 2026 at 6:20 PM Jason Howes <jason...@gmail.com> wrote:

Good evening, everyone:

Is it just us, or have the number of stolen packages from Amazon, Walmart, etc. really gone up lately? I had an idea that might help with the situation and I wanted to run it by the community.

What if we mounted a fake/old video camera (I have one of both) around the mail kiosk and put a "Video in Progress" warning below the camera:

<image.png>

I hate to resort to this, but it's getting very frustrating. Regardless, I'd be more than happy to contribute a camera and do the work, but I obviously wanted to run it by you first.

Best,

Jason

3 Tannery Brook Row Apt 8

Somerville, MA 02144

+1 (617) 501-0984

www.howes.org

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[Patty Washienko]

I just did some quick research.

So. It seems there may be potential liability under a theory of misrepresentation and/or breach of a duty of care. The issue is that the sign (representation) arguably would make someone feel safe, and if they are subsequently a victim of a crime because they relied on a false sense of security, we’d have breached our duty of care.  I have not found any Massachusetts cases yet, but that’s the concern.  I’ll keep poking around. 

Patricia Washienko 

Sent from my iPhone, which is responsible for all typos. 

On Jan 16, 2026, at 3:36 PM, Susie Purcell <susa...@gmail.com> wrote:



To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/homeowners-3-4-tbr/B16CF115-36A7-438E-8644-2C61989EDA87%40gmail.com.

[Jason Howes]

Thanks Patty. I appreciate the thorough research.

Best,

Jason

3 Tannery Brook Row Apt 8

Somerville, MA 02144

+1 (617) 501-0984

www.howes.org

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/homeowners-3-4-tbr/F485C1D2-2785-4EE9-B3B3-864A069D5674%40gmail.com.