NEW YORK (Washington Insider Magazine) – A mail carrier for the United States Postal Service was on his job in Brooklyn, New York, one day in November when he found himself in a terrifying position.
According to the New York City Police Department as well as an internal Postal Service notice, a suspect ran up and tried to steal his arrow key as he was accessing a mailbox. Criminals attempting to steal postal prize the keys that are needed to access mail collection boxes.
The 2 men fought, but the attacker managed to flee with the key, according to authorities.
The postal carrier chased him down, but the pursuit was short-lived. According to authorities, the offender pulled out a revolver and fired, the bullet speeding past the mailman.
The episode in Brooklyn was dramatic, but it was not an outlier. Criminals are actively targeting postal workers around the nation.
According to statistics acquired from a public data request from the US Postal Inspection Service, postal carrier robberies more than tripled during 2018 and 2021, while robberies with a weapon more than quadrupled.
Letter carrier robberies increased from 80 in 2018 to 261 in 2021 across the nation. According to the statistics, the rate of armed robberies increased from 36 in 2018 to 154 in 2021.
The crime spree shows no signs of slowing down. According to NBC NEWS, both categories of offenses are on track to surpass last year’s levels in 2022.
The Postal Inspection Service, which works with local law enforcement agencies to probe mail carrier robberies, was given questions by the Postal Service.
The inspection service told NBC News that multiple factors are likely fueling the increase in mail carrier robberies, such as the economic effects of the Coronavirus crisis, the rise in USPS package volume during the surge of e-commerce, as well as the mailing of federal checks pertaining to pandemic aid programmes.
The Postal Inspection Service issued a notice in early March about a dramatic uptick in armed robberies targeting USPS mail carriers.
The spike in carrier robberies comes at a time when homicides and other violent felonies are increasing in many sections of the country. According to the FBI’s annual Uniform Crime Report, robberies fell in 2020 compared to 2019.
Theft of mail has increased dramatically in recent years. According to the USPS Office of Inspector General, the Postal Inspection Service recorded over 299,000 mail theft reports from March 2020 to February 2021, up 184,500 reports (161%) over the previous year’s similar time.
The spike in mail carrier robberies, according to Frank Albergo, president of the Postal Police Personnel Association, is due to an effort to marginalize postal police officials.
In August 2020, postal police officials will be required to quit patrolling city streets. The officers would be limited to operating on post office premises, according to a document issued by the Postal Inspection Service at the time.
The Postal Inspection Service did not respond directly to Albergo’s accusation, but did state that postal police officers’ jurisdiction is restricted to Postal Service real property.
Any patterns that offer threats or risks to the well-being of mail carriers, according to Fredric Rolando, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, are “disturbing.”
