Canadian robbery victims should forget about posting images of alleged “porch thieves” who steal their packages as they could be violating the law.

This upside-down logic comes from a warning issued by Quebec’s provincial police force which has set off a wave of criticism.

“It’s something we deal with on a daily basis. You have people that are following the vehicles, and when they see a parcel that’s dropped off, they then go and take the parcel if nobody comes to the door to retrieve the parcel,” Montreal West councilor Lauren Small-Pennefather said of the robbery trend.

Porch pirate privacy, Cops warn residents not to violate crooks’ ‘right to privacy’. pic.twitter.com/ddHtGbr3UW

— Mansour (@Mansour1764695) January 12, 2024

But The Sûreté du Québec’s warning to residents seeking to expose the thieves has created an angry response.

“You cannot post the images yourself because you have to remember, in Canada, we have a presumption of innocence and posting that picture could be a violation of private life,” communications officer Lt. Benoit Richard warned in a video statement.

“You cannot post the images yourself, you have to remember in Canada we have presumption of innocence.”

Quebec police urge the public not to post footage of thieves stealing packages from their houses because it can be a violation of private life. pic.twitter.com/1hpXIs2gDC

— Alexandra Lavoie (@ThevoiceAlexa) January 10, 2024

“If you get some proof that somebody might have stolen something, call the police, give that proof to the police,” the officer continued. “We’ll do the investigation, bring that person to justice and file some charges.”

One option to avoid having parcels scooped up in the first place, according to Small-Pennefather is to ask for signature verifications.

“One is that you can actually ask to have a signature for the parcel, which means they cannot leave it at your door,” she said. “You can also make arrangements with the carrier to pick it up from the depot.”

But the police directive to avoid violating the privacy of alleged criminals was roasted online.

So nice to see police caring more about criminals than their victims.

— Fallout Dave (@Fallout5Dave) January 12, 2024

Exposing criminals you catch on your own private property is now an invasion of their privacy.

Make that make sense.

— Paul A. Szypula (@Bubblebathgirl) January 12, 2024

Who are the police trying to protect? It is certainly not law abiding citizens.

— Tiredofalltheshit (@Tiredofyinz) January 12, 2024

Would this not extend to when police post pictures of suspected criminals online that haven’t been found guilty of a crime but are suspected of committing a crime. This makes no sense at all.

— Paul Miller (@PDMiller99) January 10, 2024

A “prosumption of innocence” when caught red handed! Wokeness is weakness.

— Kyle (@Moose_88KY) January 10, 2024

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Frieda Powers

Senior Staff Writer
Frieda@bizpacreview.com

Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.

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