# Stolen newspapers in apartment buildings. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 10, 2008, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-newspapers-in-apartment-buildings/448828 "2008-05-10T18:22:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2008, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-newspapers-in-apartment-buildings/448828/1 "2008-05-10T18:22:14Z")
I live in a ~20 story apartment building. My newspaper, along with two other tenants’ (yes, only three people in the entire building subscribe to the newspaper – sad) is delivered to the lobby. The area it’s delivered to is inside a door locked to the outside population, but where any tenant can get to. The papers are marked with room numbers, so there’s no question they belong to someone and aren’t just free for the taking. If I fail to make it down to the lobby by about 8:30 a.m., the paper is invariably gone. A) This makes me angry. Just because I don’t reach my paper before 9 a.m. doesn’t mean I don’t want it. B) The building manager seemed to be little help. There’s no camera pointed at the area and she didn’t venture any other solutions. It was the first time I’d talked to her about it, however, and I didn’t push. C) Who is responsible for making sure my paper isn’t stolen? The delivery person, the building or me? D) Aside from a stakeout, anybody have any other ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2008, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-newspapers-in-apartment-buildings/448828/2 "2008-05-10T18:41:37Z")
Cancel the subscription and buy the paper from a newsstand on your way in to work? ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2008, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-newspapers-in-apartment-buildings/448828/3 "2008-05-10T18:45:38Z")
[QUOTE=Quartz] Cancel the subscription and buy the paper from a newsstand on your way in to work? [/QUOTE] More expensive, no convenient place to buy one on the way. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2008, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-newspapers-in-apartment-buildings/448828/4 "2008-05-10T18:46:51Z")
The delivery person isn’t responsible; they don’t have keys past that area. It’d be like living in a house and expecting your delivery person to put it inside your house because someone takes it off the front step. Unfortunately, I think your problem is that you have a dick living in your apartment building, and a landlord probably isn’t going to install a camera over missing newspapers. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2008, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-newspapers-in-apartment-buildings/448828/5 "2008-05-10T21:53:13Z")
[QUOTE=Ferret Herder] .. a landlord probably isn’t going to install a camera over missing newspapers. [/QUOTE] True, but not everybody realises that. If I were you, I’d paste a note to the place the paper usually lands, saying it’s yours, you usually take it by nine, you don’t appreaciate it getting stolen, that stealing mail is a crime yadayada, and that “monitoring of the mailbox by camera’s may be called for” if the stealing doesn’t stop. Signed, anonymous. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2008, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-newspapers-in-apartment-buildings/448828/6 "2008-05-10T21:58:29Z")
[QUOTE=Maastricht] True, but not everybody realises that. If I were you, I’d paste a note to the place the paper usually lands, saying it’s yours, you usually take it by nine, you don’t appreaciate it getting stolen, that stealing mail is a crime yadayada, and that “monitoring of the mailbox by camera’s may be called for” if the stealing doesn’t stop. Signed, anonymous. [/QUOTE] Stealing is a crime. I don’t think newspapers count as mail since they aren’t sent through the postal service. And I’m not sure how well signing it “anonymous” would work, since A) There are only three people who take the paper anyway, and B) the person who steals it can clearly see the apartment number written on the outside of the plastic it comes in. I’ll talk to the building manager again on Monday and see what she has to say. If it comes to it, I’ll just mill around in the lobby one or two mornings and see what happens. Perhaps if they’re caught in the act, so to speak, they’ll be scared off. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2008, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-newspapers-in-apartment-buildings/448828/7 "2008-05-10T22:00:20Z")
Keep your current paper, fold it up the way it looks when it gets delivered, and cover it with a thin layer of itching powder. Then the next time your paper is delivered be there bright and early to pick it up but leave the itching powder paper to replace it. I’d be willing to bet it is the last time your paper gets stolen. ---
**Author:** ![pprgrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f6c823/32.png) [@pprgrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pprgrl)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2008, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-newspapers-in-apartment-buildings/448828/8 "2008-05-10T23:07:03Z")
Former newspaper delivery person here. If your building manager is being uncooperative about the situation, your best bet is to give the newspaper a call and let them know what’s going on. No, it is not the delivery person’s fault, but they may be able to help you figure out a solution. I had two large buildings that I dropped off papers to (at the elevator, since there was no lobby). Usually what I did if someone in one of these buildings called and said that their paper was getting stolen was to write their name, in addition to their apartment number, at the top. That stopped it pretty much every time. You may also be able to arrange for your carrier to leave your paper in a different place. > [@Ferret Herder](#): > > It’d be like living in a house and expecting your delivery person to put it inside your house because someone takes it off the front step. A lot of people do expect this actually, or pretty close to it. I had more than a few customers who asked me to put their paper inside their screen door when they suspected that it was being stolen. ---
**Author:** ![trupa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@trupa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trupa)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2008, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-newspapers-in-apartment-buildings/448828/9 "2008-05-10T23:22:12Z")
[ironic mode] …hand-grenade, with the pin pulled, but the spoon held by the paper wrapped around it & maybe an elastic… …or a baggie of dog poop & a small explosive charge, like say, a from a shotgun shell… …or maybe some calligraphy ink instead, a nice unique colour, like turquoise… [/ironic mode] I hated having my paper stolen. And mine was left right in front of my apartment door, so it was a neighbor that was doing it. ---
**Author:** ![Shai\_tan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Shai\_tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shai_tan)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2008, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-newspapers-in-apartment-buildings/448828/10 "2008-05-10T23:53:48Z")
I’m for the confrontation. The person KNOWS that they are taking someone else’s property, but feels there’s little likelyhood of any consequence. If he doesn’t see you as he’s passing the lobby, how are you to know it’s him? Wait down there one day out of sight, and catch him in the act. Make the situation uncomfortable for him and he will stop.