A growing number of mail carriers are being targeted on the job, and federal investigators have not made arrests in local cases. The trend, which is happening all over the country, continues to victimize mail carriers and USPS customers in Greater Cincinnati. Some of the most recent incidents happened on Delaware Avenue in Norwood in January and on McPherson Avenue in East Price Hill in February. The thief was after one thing."Came up, took my keys," the mail carrier told 911 dispatchers. "He did threaten to kill me. However, I am safe. He's gone and he did not hurt me."In both instances, the thief got away with the letter carrier's arrow key, a universal key that opens every blue box, apartment panel and cluster box for an entire ZIP code. The keys, which are being sold on dark websites for thousands of dollars, are used to steal mail and checks, which are then sold and falsified for big money. "Why is the Postal Service still using technology from the '50s? It's a key," Frank Albergo, National President of the Postal Police Officers Association, said. "It's happening every day. Letter carriers are having a gun stuck in their face."The Postal Police Force operates under the direction of the Postal Inspection Service. The force was sidelined in mid-2020, told by leadership to stop patrolling neighborhood routes. Last month, an arbitrator ruled in favor of postal police getting their patrolling powers back. The union is now suing USPS to comply with the decision. Even if the police force's powers are restored, Albergo admits the problem cannot easily be contained."There are pockets, Cincinnati being one of them, where letter carriers are just not safe," Albergo said. "I would love to say that postal police can solve this problem, but we can't. We can make a dent in the problem, but we cannot stop the mail theft epidemic." WLWT reached out to USPS regarding the pending lawsuit. It declined to comment since it is a legal matter.To better understand the scope of the problem, WLWT submitted a freedom of information act request to the United States Postal Inspection Service for "all incident reports of postal workers assaulted or robbed," in Cincinnati ZIP codes in 2020, 2021 and 2022.In response to that request, USPIS sent a five-page, heavily redacted document. For 2022, there is one page listing three incidents of some kind. The full descriptions of the incidents are redacted.WLWT is aware of more than three incidents in 2022 in Greater Cincinnati. Public records obtained by WLWT also confirm USPIS and USPS have made no arrests for mail theft or robberies of postal carriers in greater Cincinnati in 2020, 2021 or 2022.In response to an additional request for reported incidents of mail theft during the same time frame, USPIS sent 442 pages of complaints containing 496 mentions of "check fraud."Examples of the reported fraud include someone who dropped a check in a blue box on Werk Road for $199.99. It was intercepted, altered and cashed for $9,999. Another victim reported their check was forged for $25,000.WLWT has reported arrests made by local police agencies of individuals found with stolen mail and/or criminal tools in their possession. According to USPIS, no arrests have been made in the robberies of mail carriers.
A growing number of mail carriers are being targeted on the job, and federal investigators have not made arrests in local cases.
The trend, which is happening all over the country, continues to victimize mail carriers and USPS customers in Greater Cincinnati.
Some of the most recent incidents happened on Delaware Avenue in Norwood in January and on McPherson Avenue in East Price Hill in February. The thief was after one thing.
"Came up, took my keys," the mail carrier told 911 dispatchers. "He did threaten to kill me. However, I am safe. He's gone and he did not hurt me."
In both instances, the thief got away with the letter carrier's arrow key, a universal key that opens every blue box, apartment panel and cluster box for an entire ZIP code. The keys, which are being sold on dark websites for thousands of dollars, are used to steal mail and checks, which are then sold and falsified for big money.
"Why is the Postal Service still using technology from the '50s? It's a key," Frank Albergo, National President of the Postal Police Officers Association, said. "It's happening every day. Letter carriers are having a gun stuck in their face."
The Postal Police Force operates under the direction of the Postal Inspection Service. The force was sidelined in mid-2020, told by leadership to stop patrolling neighborhood routes.
Last month, an arbitrator ruled in favor of postal police getting their patrolling powers back. The union is now suing USPS to comply with the decision.
Even if the police force's powers are restored, Albergo admits the problem cannot easily be contained.
"There are pockets, Cincinnati being one of them, where letter carriers are just not safe," Albergo said. "I would love to say that postal police can solve this problem, but we can't. We can make a dent in the problem, but we cannot stop the mail theft epidemic."
WLWT reached out to USPS regarding the pending lawsuit. It declined to comment since it is a legal matter.
To better understand the scope of the problem, WLWT submitted a freedom of information act request to the United States Postal Inspection Service for "all incident reports of postal workers assaulted or robbed," in Cincinnati ZIP codes in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
In response to that request, USPIS sent a five-page, heavily redacted document. For 2022, there is one page listing three incidents of some kind. The full descriptions of the incidents are redacted.
WLWT is aware of more than three incidents in 2022 in Greater Cincinnati.
Public records obtained by WLWT also confirm USPIS and USPS have made no arrests for mail theft or robberies of postal carriers in greater Cincinnati in 2020, 2021 or 2022.
In response to an additional request for reported incidents of mail theft during the same time frame, USPIS sent 442 pages of complaints containing 496 mentions of "check fraud."
Examples of the reported fraud include someone who dropped a check in a blue box on Werk Road for $199.99. It was intercepted, altered and cashed for $9,999. Another victim reported their check was forged for $25,000.
WLWT has reported arrests made by local police agencies of individuals found with stolen mail and/or criminal tools in their possession. According to USPIS, no arrests have been made in the robberies of mail carriers.
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