MANDEVILLE, LA — The Mandeville Police Department is offering tips to people to make sure criminals don’t steal their Christmas gift deliveries.

It’s an ongoing problem around the holiday season.  Just check out some of the cases from last year.

Police say the best defense is minimizing your chance for being targeted.

First, they suggest scheduling your package delivery to occur at a time when you or a family member will most likely be home.  They also say you should sign up for notifications via text message or email so you’ll know when the package is there.

In the event you cannot schedule your package delivery, try asking the shipping company to hold your delivery at its nearest distribution center.  That way, you can go pickup the package personally when you have the time.

Finally, if possible, you could ask a trusted neighbor to either receive the package or remove it from your porch and keep it until you return home.

Police say everyone needs to keep an eye out for the thieves.  They often follow delivery trucks as they make their rounds.  In fact, drivers are instructed to watch to see if anyone is following them.

New Orleans police offer additional suggestions.  They say to consider having your package delivered to your place of employment.  Also, if you’re going to be out of town for an extended period of time, ask the package carrier to hold all of your deliveries until you return.

If you must have a package delivered when nobody will be home, tell the company to put the package in a location where it cannot be seen as easily from the street.  You can usually make the request when you order online in the ‘delivery instructions’ section.

The holiday shopping season is just beginning, so the deliveries are going to become more common.  So will the theft attempts.