The post office can deliver the mail; why can’t it protect it?
We all know the old saying that neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. (Although after this recent Christmas freeze, I will now acknowledge that two days of sub-zero temperatures may forestall some of those couriers from their appointed rounds ... at least my round.)
But, in so many ways and for so many years, that informal motto has assured us that our post office will safeguard our mail and give us the service we expect.
Sadly, that motto has been shattered by a barrage of thefts from the blue post office pick-up boxes around our community. Time and time again we have read that someone has used a key to open the box and taken all of the envelopes, sifted through them to find checks and money, and discarded the rest. Worse yet, the same key will open up all of the blue boxes in the area, thereby expanding the opportunities for continuing theft.
Twice I have been a victim of checks taken during those thefts. In both cases, the name of the payee was changed, and the check was processed through a mobile deposit.
In one instance the amount was not changed and it appeared on my bank statement very normal, unless or until I actually pulled up the image of the check. In the other instance, they whitewashed my check and inserted a new payee and a new large amount. Thankfully, that amount did trigger my alarm bell and I was able to thwart it. Those are just two examples of what so many people in our community have experienced.
The real question is: Why can’t the post office protect our mail, particularly since it has a statutory obligation to do so?
Sure, there have been a few arrests, and we are all grateful for those. But those arrests will not protect our mail in the future from other thieves and grifters. The police tell us to use the mail slots inside the post office. Unfortunately, that is not a solution to the problem.
I applaud Senator Sherrod Brown’s efforts, demanding a response from Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, the inexperienced Trump-appointed postmaster who seems to be more interested in cutting back than in going forward. As yet, DeJoy has not responded to Senator Brown.
At a minimum, the U.S. Postal Service should assume responsibility for solving this problem and not just shove it off to the local police. The “Postal Police” have the responsibility to protect the mail.
This is a sophisticated world, and I don’t pretend to be able to tell the USPS how to solve its problems, except to suggest that there may be many technologies and devices that could be a lot better than the “one key fits all” approach.
I understand that it is complicated, perhaps, by budgets and legislation. But even within the existing system, the USPS could consider surveillance cameras, combination locks, and perhaps other technological or electronic options.
The inaction of the Postmaster General and the USPS to solve this problem is worse than the rain, the sleet, the snow and the freezing temperatures.
Maybe we need the
Pony Express to come back to protect our mail.