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Ahead of the holidays, federal agencies are combatting postal crimes.
Robberies of postal carriers have increased nationwide in recent years. Since May, over 10,000 high-security blue boxes have been deployed in high-security risk areas. The Postal Service will continue to evaluate replacing additional existing blue collection boxes with these enhanced boxes and anticipates installing several thousand more boxes shortly.
The US Postal Inspection Service is warning homeowners to be vigilant during the holiday season due to increased theft of mail and packages. They arrested 4,291 suspects for such thefts last year. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is mandated to protect each one of your special holiday cards and packages. The Post Office advises people to take their packages to the post office for more security, rather than leaving them in mailboxes.
If you do not receive a check, credit card, or other valuable mail you’re expecting, contact the sender as soon as possible and inquire about it. The USPS website offers tools to help secure packages, such as setting a mail hold for specific days, scheduling deliveries for specific dates, and customizing delivery locations. Penalties for mail theft can include a five-year federal prison sentence, separate from any other charges related to the theft, such as bank fraud or identity theft. The Postal Inspection Service encourages reporting of suspected mail theft via its website or hotline.
