We just reported news on Thursday about a July 11 robbery of a postal worker in Virginia Beach. It’s apparently a growing trend, and Congress is taking notice.
“I have been troubled by reports of violent assaults and armed thefts against our nation’s letter carriers, especially given an increase in attacks committed against these public servants in Virginia,” said Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., who represents the Seventh District in the U.S. House.
Spanberger is backing bipartisan legislation styled the Protect our Letter Carriers Act, which would provide $7 billion in funding for the U.S. Postal Service to secure its infrastructure, install high-security collection boxes, and replace arrow keys with electronic versions that cannot be stolen.
The bill also amends federal sentencing guidelines so that the assault or robbery of a postal employee is treated the same as assault of a law enforcement officer.
According to the USPS, there have been more than 2,000 crimes committed against letter carriers on the job just since 2020.
In addition to the report from AFP on Thursday, we know that, earlier this year, two USPS letter carriers in Richmond were robbed at gunpoint of their mailbags and universal arrow keys — which unlock collection boxes, outdoor parcel lockers, cluster box units, and apartment mailboxes in the carrier’s service area.
A recent audit of U.S. Postal Inspection Service data found that more than half of robberies of letter carriers involved the theft of their arrow keys.
These thefts contributed to an 87 percent increase in high-volume mail theft from mail receptacles.
“The Protect our Letter Carriers Act would prevent assaults on letter carriers,” Spanberger said. “As a former federal law enforcement officer, I know that this legislation is a crucial step toward protecting the dedicated individuals who deliver our mail and connect our communities — and I’m proud to support this effort to keep them safe.”
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Chris Graham
