BALTIMORE — Missing mail and stolen checks have become a frequent topic on an Anneslie neighborhood discussion site. Claude Lijoi and Jane Anthon are among the recent victims of this postal crime.
Lijoi mailed a $50 check as a graduation gift in the collection box at Windwood Road and Holly Lane. A few months later, his bank called.
“Someone tried to pass off the check for $5,000,” said Lijoi. “We have others that are outstanding, so I've had to go back and put stop payments on the checks.”
Jane Anthon mailed a $68 check to pay her water bill in the same mailbox.
“My bank sent me a message saying that I may have insufficient funds in my account, so when I checked online to see what activity would cause that because I don't usually overdraw my account, I saw this check for $14,000 that I had not written,” Anthon recalled.
She didn’t know where the check came from until she saw the check number.
“It looked like my check, had my name and address on it, but it was made payable to someone I didn't know. On the memo part, I always write what it's for so I don't forget, and the signature was not mine,” said Anthon.
Fortunately for Lijoi and Anthon, their banks were quick to block the checks or restore their funds, but it's been an unsettling problem that's gone on for months.
In May, WMAR-2 News Mallory Sofastaii reported on another Anneslie neighbor whose $124 was altered for $20,000.
RELATED: Neighbors believe their mail is being stolen from USPS boxes, stolen check altered for $20,000
“This has probably been happening for atleast a year, as far as I know,” said Lijoi.
However, these neighbors haven’t heard anything from the U.S. Postal Service about this crime or what they plan to do about it.
Last week, Sofastaii requested information on stolen mail reports and to speak with the Baltimore County police officer investigating these cases. The Department hasn’t yet provided this data and declined her interview request with the investigating officer.
Sofastaii also requested this information from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) through a public records request. She’s waiting for their response.
“Here in this entire neighborhood, I don't think there's any faith at all that our mail's going to get there using street mailboxes,” said Lijoi.
Howard County residents have reported similar thefts.
On June 21 and July 1, two mail carriers were reportedly robbed in Columbia. And in Anne Arundel County, a mail carrier was robbed in Crofton on May 25.
In all these incidents, the suspects demanded the carriers’ keys at gunpoint.
According to the United States Postal Service Office of the Inspector General, mail carrier's keys or arrow keys, can open any mail box in a certain zip code, or in some cases, whole cities.
The police report for the incident in Crofton states that the carrier’s key can open all USPS mailboxes in Crofton.
“Criminals are stealing mail that's what's happening. They're looking for checks to wash, they're breaking into blue collection boxes, they're robbing letter carriers, they're breaking into postal vehicles, it's out of control. Postal crime has spiraled out of control,” said Frank Albergo, National President for the Postal Police Officers Association.
He believes the underutilization of the postal police force is tied to the uptick in postal crime.
“In June, there were 7 carriers robbed within a 24-hour time span. Ordinarily, we would've been out on the street immediately,” said Albergo.
But in 2020, USPIS issued a memo preventing PPOs from performing their duties off postal service premises without prior approval, which halted carrier protection patrols and community policing patrols.
Albergo said the number of PPOs has also dropped.
“In Baltimore, we should have 24 PPOs. Right now, we're under 10 officers,” said Albergo. “I think they are looking to eliminate the postal police force and it's unfortunate because they'd rather investigate crime than deter it.”
“What's the lesson here for customers? Don't put anything valuable in the mail?” Sofastaii asked Albergo.
“You know, as a postal worker, it's tough to say it, I refuse to say it, but I would not put anything in the blue collection boxes I would bring my mail into a post office. I mean, it's similar to McDonald's saying don't eat hamburgers. I mean that's what's happening right now. People are losing public trust in the mail. The Postal Service is destroying its brand. They have to put postal police officers back on the street, they have to do something,” said Albergo.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service Office of Public Affairs emailed the statement below to WMAR-2 News:
"U.S. Postal Inspectors are federal law enforcement agents who conduct investigations of postal related crimes, such as mail fraud and theft, violent crimes against postal employees, revenue fraud, dangerous mail, illegal drugs in the mail, and child exploitation conducted via the mail. As part of our mission to protect our employees, customers, and the Postal Service, robberies of postal employees are a top priority for Postal Inspectors. Although the incidence of robberies is relatively low (considering the number of daily contacts postal employees have with the public), Postal Inspectors take each one very seriously.
The Postal Inspection Service developed a program called “Safe and Secure”, which focuses on continuing employee education and prevention efforts through talks, presentations, and training videos to help employees prevent robberies, assaults, and theft from postal vehicles and facilities. Postal Inspectors also work closely with neighborhood crime prevention groups and other concerned citizens to keep an eye out for letter carriers. In the unfortunate event where there is a robbery of a letter carrier, Postal Inspectors work closely with federal prosecutors to seek the highest possible sentence upon conviction. Protecting the Postal Service and its employees is the core mission of the Postal Inspection Service; therefore, robbery investigations receive the highest level of response and attention.
Postal Police are uniformed officers who perform law enforcement duties at designated facilities owned, occupied, or controlled by the U.S. Postal Service. The authority of Postal Police Officers, established by federal statute, did not change in 2020, and they have remained an integral component of our law enforcement mission. As part of the Postal Inspection Service, Postal Police Officers protect Postal Service facilities along with the employees and customers, Postal Service property, assets, and the U.S. Mail on that property. The responsibility to investigate postal-related offenses that occur off U.S. Postal Service property belongs to Postal Inspectors."
Last week, federal lawmakers were in Philadelphia for a field hearing on postal mail theft and crime.
Between 2018 and 2021, robberies of mail carriers more than tripled and robberies involving a gun more than quadrupled.
The U.S. Subcommittee on Government Operations is now evaluating whether the postal police force can help fight these postal crimes.
On Tuesday, Maryland Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger said he plans to look into this issue right away and issued the statement below:
“I am deeply troubled by the severe spikes in postal crimes both in my district, and around the Country. It has come to my attention that the United States Postal Service made a unilateral decision to redirect law enforcement away from mail routes, endangering letter carriers and harming customers who are experiencing high rates of stolen mail, checks and other important documents. The Postal Police force has been reduced by 20% since 2020 and as far as I know, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has done little to fix this problem. The United States Postal Service must take action at a national level to address these crimes and to protect postal employees and their customers.”
For more information on the hearing, click here.
To report mail fraud or theft with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, click here.