The U.S. Postal Service on Friday announced steps to crack down on a rising tide of mail crime, including theft of mail, robberies of carriers, change-of-address fraud and counterfeit postage.
The USPS is set to install some 12,000 high security blue collection boxes across the country in an effort to make illegal access more difficult.
The department will also replace some 49,000 antiquated arrow locks with electronic locks, targeting rising incidents of mail carrier robberies. Criminals have reportedly been preying on carriers for their mail keys in order to steal postage from secure receptacles in order to commit financial fraud.
New locks have already been installed in some cities with more to follow.
The USPS and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said they were stepping up efforts “to protect postal employees and the security of the nation’s mail and packages as threats and attacks on letter carriers and mail fraud incidents have escalated concurrently with a national rise in crime.”
Postal Inspection Service Chief Gary Barksdale added in a statement, “We are hardening targets—both physical and digital—to make them less desirable to thieves and working with our law enforcement partners to bring perpetrators to justice.”
According to the USPS, more than 400 mail carriers were robbed in the 2022 budget year, while in the six months ending March 30 already more than 300 had been robbed.
In those same six months there have been more than 25,000 reported thefts from mail receptacles, compared with 38,500 for the entire previous budget year.
