As letter carrier robberies increase, does USPS need more police?

CHARLOTTE — We told you about four separate robberies of mail workers earlier this week, and numerous similar attacks since 2021. Some postal workers feel it’s getting worse, but is outdated data contributing to the problem?

“It should be where we fear coming in to work,” said, Karen, a postal worker who was robbed at gunpoint in March.

“I don’t think people realize these keys open up so many boxes,” Karen said.

She’s referring to the letter carriers’ keys that open mailboxes.

“They think it’s just on my route. They open up several boxes, and it’s your information, a lot of your information out in the hands of someone you don’t want.”

The U.S. Postal Service has been aware of these attacks since before the COVID-19 pandemic, but new numbers show robbery cases have increased nearly seven-fold from 2019 through last year.

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But that increase in crime hasn’t correlated with an increase in enforcement resources.

A new report from the Government Accountability Office says that the U.S. Postal Inspection Service hasn’t assessed the size or location of its postal police workforce since 2011. That means the agency is relying on outdated data when deciding where postal police are stationed, and what their job duties are.

Their union has been fighting in court to let officers patrol beyond just the inside of post office buildings.

“You have a postal crime wave on your hands, and you have a postal police force -- it’s not hard to put the two together,” said Frank Albergo, the national president of the Postal Police Officers Association.

As of September, there were only 367 postal police officers on the force, nearly 40% less than what they’re authorized for.

In response to the watchdog report, USPS officials said they plan to assess their security force, but there’s no timeframe on when they plan to do it.

(WATCH: Officers work with postal service to get 50 pounds of stolen mail returned to owners)