KENTUCKY — Earlier this year, Gov. Andy Beshear (D) signed Senate Bill 23 into law, which expands penalties for porch pirates, which is a nickname for people who steal packages from other people's homes.

Ben Stickle, earned his Ph.D from the University of Louisville's Criminal Justice department and now he is an Associate Professor of Criminal Justice Administration at Middle Tennessee State University and for years has conducted video analysis and surveys on the issue of package theft.

During this In Focus Kentucky segment, Dr. Stickle shares findings from his research, about why package thefts are becoming more common due to the growth in online shopping and the accessibility of having items shipped directly to a home.

“More and more people are obviously purchasing things online, having them delivered at all hours of the day, especially as we are headed back to the workplace and back to school, we're at home less and our packages kind of build up on the front porch for hours at a time. This just creates an opportunity for theft. Another concern is the way that some of the videos have gone viral, if you will, you know, demonstrating to people how this can be done. And really this is a low skill, low entry crime. There's almost no risk to it happening very quickly,” explains Dr. Stickle.

You can watch the full In Focus segment in the player above.