The men and women who deliver mail are under attack. In 2022, mail carriers were victims of a surge in armed robberies in Tampa and across the country as thieves turned stolen checks into cash.
Recent attacks include:
- In September, a South Tampa postal worker told 911 that a gunman pointed a gun to his stomach
- Robbers who strong-armed a mailman in Temple Terrace
- A Polk County mailman who had a gun pointed at his head
According to United States Postal Service data, in 2022, 496 carriers reported being robbed—a record number. By August, criminals struck another 396 postal workers, 29 of them in Florida.
The criminals are after one thing: the keys to cluster mailboxes like those found at office buildings and apartment complexes. In a large haul of mail, the thieves can find checks that they then alter often to increase the dollar amount or change the payee, a crime called "check washing." The altered checks are then sold on the dark web.
The postal service reported over 38,000 high-volume mail thefts in 2022, and banks reported 680,000 instances of check fraud last year. In June, USPS warned consumers to avoid mailing checks unless they’re using a secure location like the post office.
Increased Security
Tampa Postal Inspector Damien Krabel said the Postal Inspection Services' top priorities are protecting the carriers and our mail. He told the I-Team they are adding resources to the most troubled areas, including those in Tampa Bay.
"We will move inspectors to that area to target that crime," Krabel said. "We'll do more hardening of mailboxes in that area.”
In May, the Inspection Service announced it would install 12,000 high-security blue collection boxes nationwide and replace old key locks with 49,000 electronic locks at cluster mailboxes.
USPS won’t say how many of the installations have taken place, but the attacks continue. Robbers hit four carriers in Hillsborough County between August and September.
Police and the Public
There is a postal police force, but they are only authorized to guard postal facilities.
Edna Sepulveda, with the Postal Police Officers Association, wants the law changed.
“There are uniformed postal police officers that can protect the streets, that can protect letter carriers on their routes," she said.
Bipartisan legislation called the Postal Police Reform Act, if passed, would give postal police more authority to protect the mail system.
For now, the National Association of Letter Carriers, which represents postal workers, is pleading for the public's help in keeping these public servants safe.
Florida President of the NACL Al Friedman told the I-Team: “When you know your mail carrier's coming—I need more eyes and ears and every one of those that can be just as much of a deterrent as if a police officer was standing there with you.”
