(Sacramento, CA) — A bill to hold package thieves accountable is moving out of the California Assembly Public Safety committee on it’s way to possible passage. Evan Low’s new bill will make it a crime to enter the vicinity of a home with the intent to commit theft of any shipped packages. It creates a legal method for law enforcement to charge so-called “porch pirates.”

California law prohibits stealing private property and packages, but there is not a punishable crime for entering the area around the home with the intent to steal. Without harsher penalties, those caught stealing packages from doorsteps face few consequences and just get right back to plundering.