Postal workers in the United States, known for their dedication in delivering mail regardless of weather conditions, are facing a new threat along their routes: armed robberies.
These mail carriers, who do not carry weapons, have become targets for criminals due to the possibility of them carrying valuable items such as personal checks and prescription medications, which can be turned into money. Additionally, some robbers are after the USPS' outdated "arrow keys," which are universal keys that can unlock various types of mailboxes, providing access to their contents.
Last year, the USPS launched a crime prevention initiative known as Project Safe Delivery with the aim of "decreasing criminal activities against postal workers." Despite this effort, incidents of postal carrier robberies rose by 30% to 643 cases in 2023, with the number of robberies resulting in injuries doubling to 61, as reported by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in response to a Freedom of Information Act request made by The Associated Press.
Overall, robberies have increased by six times over the past decade, with a particularly sharp rise in the number of postal carriers being held at gunpoint, based on an analysis of the postal data.
Most recently, a gunman on Tuesday robbed a mail carrier in a New Hampshire town, with neighbors telling CBS Boston that the carrier said the robber was after his arrow keys. Police later arrested an 18-year-old man from Lowell, Massachusetts and charged him with robbery.
That case followed multiple robberies targeting mail carriers in recent months, including:
- An unknown suspect robbed a mail carrier at gunpoint on Saturday in Union City, California
- Three or four suspects robbed two mail carriers at gunpoint last month in Denver
- An unknown suspect robbed a mail carrier last month in Las Vegas
- A suspect robbed a mail carrier last month in Fort Worth, Texas
- An unknown man robbed a mail carrier on Valentine's Day in Philadelphia, NBC News reported
In many cases, the carriers were not harmed, but the postal carrier in Union City suffered minor injuries that were treated at a local hospital. In some cases, postal officials are offering rewards of up to $150,000 for information to find the criminals.
The USPS didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday, nor did the National Association of Letter Carriers, the union that represents USPS mail carriers.
Project Safe Delivery was initiated to combat mail theft and attacks on carriers by replacing old locks that could be opened with arrow keys with electronic locks. However, a recent CBS News review discovered that the postal service is not consistently securing millions of arrow keys, potentially contributing to the increasing theft problem.
Despite this, law enforcement authorities have made over 1,200 arrests for mail thefts and robberies of letter carriers since the inception of Project Safe Delivery last May. The efforts to combat crimes against carriers seem to be yielding results, with postal robberies decreasing by 19% in the last five months according to postal service data.
