Mail theft has become a growing concern in Alabama and nationwide, with a noticeable increase in such incidents. WAAY 31 recently conducted an investigation to determine the possible causes behind this rising issue. Additionally, they explored the measures being taken by the United States Postal Service (USPS) to safeguard people’s money, identities, and the safety of mail carriers.
Between 2019 and 2022, there has been a significant increase in reports of mail theft, according to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The number of incidents nearly doubled, showing an alarming 87 percent rise. One such victim is Elfriede Rucker, a long-time resident of Huntsville who originally hails from Germany. Having lived in Huntsville for the past six decades, Rucker experienced a distressing incident last year when checks were stolen from a blue collection box. To her surprise, around $9,000 worth of checks were cashed, leaving her deeply troubled by the incident.
“It has a direct impact on your safety and your everyday life,” Rucker emphasized.
In the months leading up to the recovery of her funds, she faced numerous obstacles dealing with Social Security and her banks. She nearly lost the money intended for her grandchild’s college fund and was uncertain about how she would have managed without her savings at Redstone Federal Credit Union.
As we delved deeper into our investigation comparing 2019 and 2022, we consistently circled back to one key factor. The USPS made a significant decision in 2020 to greatly diminish the powers of postal police officers. When we inquired with the USPS regarding their rationale behind confining postal police exclusively to postal service property, we sought clarity.
The USPS faced doubts about the effectiveness and capabilities of postal police under the law, resulting in their removal from the streets.
According to Frank Albergo, the president of the Postal Police Officers Association, the increase in reports of mail theft is closely tied to the sidelining of postal police.
“We are no longer able to arrest mail thieves,” Albergo lamented. “They have essentially sidelined us, and now our main duty is to safeguard buildings rather than focusing on the security of mail and postal workers. It’s frustrating to think that the postal service continues to fund a uniformed police force that remains unused.”
Albergo and the PPOA have filed a lawsuit against the USPS and are advocating for congressional bills to overturn the decision regarding postal police.
Under Project Safe Delivery, Nicholson-Morgan suggests implementing electronic locking mechanisms as a way to replace collection boxes and outdated arrow key locks.
Since its nationwide launch in 2023, Project Safe Delivery has successfully contributed to a significant reduction in postal-related robberies by 24 percent and mail theft by 27 percent.
Despite some progress, there is still a significant amount of work that needs to be done to address the ongoing issue of letter carriers being targeted and even killed, as well as the high cost of mail theft which amounts to billions of dollars annually for Americans.
