Round Rock Police Warn Of Holiday Crime Scourge With Humor

ROUND ROCK, TEXAS — As it relates to public service announcements, it's not an easy trick to inform an audience on a criminal scourge by employing humor while making the message entertaining yet informative. In alerting residents to package thefts that spike during the holidays, the Round Rock Police Department manages to pull it off.

In a reprise of its November holiday advisory, the police department created a video fashioned like a game show alerting residents to thefts of holiday packages from front porches. An abundant number of packages delivered during the holidays are easy targets for thieves who troll neighborhoods searching for parcels left in unattended homes.

The video aims to let residents know about "Operation Front Porch," a free service launched last year by the Round Rock Police Department designed to safeguard residents' mailed packages. The video titled "What's On Your Front Porch!" lets viewers know of the initiative running through Dec. 22.

Related story: Round Rock Police Launch 'Operation Front Porch'

It's a rare public service offered to Round Rock residents. As part of separate reporting last month, Patch previously called other area police departments to discern if other versions of the service exist only to learn it's a unique offering in the Austin area.

The promotional video for the free service features an actor portraying game show host Phil Felony interviewing a character named Misty Meanor (as in "misdemeanor") about her thievery tactics.

"There she goes, folks!" Felony tells viewers in affected stentorian delivery after a brief interview as the camera follows the faux thief in skillfully retrieving a package. "Look at that form!" Felony exclaims. "Stride for stride, straight to the front porch! There's no hesitation there!"

Think Monty Hall of "Let's Make a Deal" but involving ill-gotten gains rather than valuable prizes won fairly. Too old a reference? Think Drew Carey on the Price Is Right post-Bob Barker but also involving purloined packages.

After her mad dash to a front porch, Meanor returns to reveal the contents of her stolen box: "A tablet!" exclaims game show host Felony. "Wow! Well, there you have it folks!" he ends before a chorus repeats the name of the "show" as police sirens blare in the background.

It's pretty funny, but the underlying message is a serious one. Residents who anticipate being away from their homes for the holidays are urged to avail themselves of "Operation Front Porch" and have police keep their parcels at the cop shop for safe keeping. Undoubtedly, there is no safer place for merchandise to be in residents' absence than there.

For more details on the program, click here. Apart from the holiday period, Round Rock police also offer year-round the use of their parking lot and lobby for transactions initiated on Craigslist or other exchange websites. That offering is dubbed the Safety Exchange Zones initiative.

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>>> Image via Round Rock Police Department