A USPS mail carrier was robbed in a normally-quiet San Francisco neighborhood Friday.
It happened just after noon in the Richmond District.
“There’s enough package stealing, and stuff like that already, without them being able to get into them actually being able to get into the physical boxes,” said Hank Holiday of San Francisco.
Neighbors said the postal service hasn’t notified them about the robberies, or what to do about securing their mailboxes.
But the U.S. Postal Inspection Services warned this spring about a rash of these targeted robberies after a carrier was robbed in Antioch.
“Mail thieves are criminals, they are dangerous every time we catch up with a mail thief, they are armed,” said Matthew Norfleet back in May of this year.
He said there are dozens of open investigations into mail carrier robberies across the Bay Area.
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And while postal carriers are growing more concerned about their personal safety at work, neighbors are concerned about the security of their boxes.
“We don't have a whole lot fitting into these mailboxes here, but still we get checks, we get credit cards by mail like everybody else, so obviously that would be a concern,” said Daniel Zilberman of San Francisco.
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And it’s not just a Bay Area problem.
According to U.S. postal inspector data provided to the Associated Press, postal carrier robberies nationwide jumped 78% last year to nearly 500.
The mail carriers union wants the postal inspector and police to devote more resources to investigating and catching the robbers.
