CINCINNATI — Even as statewide numbers fall, attacks on letter carriers in the greater Cincinnati area have risen in the past year.
Data analyzed by WCPO partner Journal-News showed mail collection box thefts have dropped by 47% year over year in Ohio and robberies of the keys to open the boxes off of postal carriers had dropped by roughly a third from 34 to 23 over the same time period in the state of Ohio.
U.S. Postal Inspector Service Spokesperson Nicole Lutz didn't directly attribute the state-wide drop to anything in particular but said in an email their federal "holistic approach" may have had an impact.
"Criminals are robbing our carriers for keys, to sell the key or steal mail and commit related financial fraud," Lutz said. "This is why the Postal Service and Postal Inspection Service has announced an expanded Project Safe Delivery in May of 2023.
Still, National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 43 President Ted Thompson said attacks on letter carriers in the greater Cincinnati area have risen from seven at this time in 2022 to 10 this year.
Thompson called on the federal government to do more Thursday and applauded Rep. Greg Landsman (D-District 1) for addressing the issue on the House floor Wednesday.
"Earlier this week in Southwest Ohio, there were two armed robberies of letter carriers within 12 hours," Landsman said in his speech.
Thompson said he hasn't changed his tone about the problem since a rally for postal protections in late August at Fountain Square.
"Enough is enough," he said.
Thieves have been robbing postal carriers for their "arrow keys," which provide access to bulk mail collectors. The mail inside those boxes are used for identity theft and the "washing" of checks, according to inTrustIT Cyber Security Consultant David Hatter.
"It's surprising to me that it's down," Hatter said.
Hatter said the epidemic of check theft has caused significant damage to some of the clients who've fallen victim once their checks fell into the wrong hands.
"You go cash the check and you walk away with that money," he said. "I have first-hand experience with several people who've had this happen to their business to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars."
Lutz said as part of Project Safe Delivery, the Postal Service would change 49,000 locks across the country to digital ones to make the physical keys taken from carriers useless.
They've also added a reward for information that leads to the arrest of a mail thief to $150,000, and targeted enforcement efforts in San Fransisco, Chicago and several Ohio cities have led to 109 robbery arrests and 530 arrests for mail theft.
Hatter said it's important that people protect themselves before their mail is stolen, however.
"Contact your bank and turn on every protection they have," he said.
Hatter said early detection of theft is the best personal protection as you'll have more time to tip investigators and your bank that something is wrong.
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