NEW YORK, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Police in a U.S. city has teamed up with Amazon, using dummy parcels to catch thieves who steal parcels outside homes, local media reported.

Police in Jersey City of the U.S. state of New Jersey have installed hidden doorbell cameras and planted fake Amazon parcels with GPS tracking devices at homes around the city to combat porch thefts.

The locations for the experiment were chosen using the city's crime statistics and mapping of theft locations provided by Amazon. Some members of the police department who live in the city also volunteered to have baits placed at their homes.

The mission began on Tuesday and thieves have already been caught using the bait technique. In one case, a parcel box only stayed for three minutes before it was stolen.

"We thought it was a mistake at first," said James Crecco, a police captain who is overseeing the mission.

The program has undergone a legal review and has been approved by a municipal prosecutor. The city is hoping to expand the program with assistance from Amazon, said Jersey City Police Chief Michael Kelly, according to the Associated Press.

Amazon said in a statement that it appreciates the increased effort by local law enforcement to tackle package theft and remain committed to assisting however it can.

As Christmas and New Year's Day are nearing, the United States is witnessing a surge in its amounts of deliveries. The U.S. Postal Service has earlier said that it expects to deliver nearly 15 billion pieces of mail and 900 million packages between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. Enditem

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