(The Center Square) – Illinois state Rep. Dan Ugaste argues lawmakers need to look in the mirror when it comes to placing blame for Chicago’s status as the worst city in the country for porch pirate thefts.
Research firm SafeWise finds city residents lost more than $254 million in stolen goods in 2025 stemming from at least 6.5 million incidents. Ugaste said it’s not hard to deduce why Chicago has become such an easy target.
“Until earlier this year when Cook County got a new state’s attorney in Chicago, there was a very lax enforcement of laws,” Ugaste, R-Geneva, told The Center Square. “No consequences for actions and for bad actions and this is what you get. The other thing is the SAFE-T Act. My guess is if we toughen up law enforcement and if we especially do something to make certain repeat offenders are held accountable, we’ll see a steep decline in that number.”
Enacted in 2021, the so-called SAFE-T Act institutes criminal justice reforms that include a no cash bail provision.
With the thefts having also cost retailers nationwide roughly $22 billion in replacement, refund, shipping and customer service costs, Ugaste said Chicago is among the places where that price-tag is proving to be most costly.
“It’s going to raise prices for people in our areas and people are not going to want to live in an area that’s like that because they don’t have to put up with this in other areas,” he said. “It has all sorts of negative impacts.”
SafeWise officials add the data is based on individual accounts, FBI crime statistics and analyses from loss prevention and e-commerce operators.
“For the first time in years, porch piracy is showing signs of slowing down,” the report said. “Fewer Americans experienced or worried about package theft in 2025 — but with millions of stolen packages and billions in losses, the problem is far from solved.”
Chicago is joined at the top of the list by the likes of New York City, Miami, Houston and Baltimore, with states such as Florida and Pennsylvania having recently sought to crack down on bandits by upgrading such crimes from misdemeanor to felony offenses.
