The U.S. Postal Service is facing what many are calling a full-blown “postal crime wave.” Mail thefts and violent crimes against postal workers are putting employees at risk and jeopardizing mail security nationwide.
In Delray Beach, thieves held mail carriers at gunpointto steal their arrow keys. In Port St. Lucie, a high-speed chase erupted after packages were stolen from a loading dock. Last week in Martin County, thieves didn’t just swipe a few letters—they allegedly walked off with entire bags of mail, including countless checks.
“Quite frankly, the Postal Inspection Service is doing very little to stop it. I mean, that’s, I mean, there it is,” Frank Albergo said.
Frank Albergo, head of the Postal Police Officers Association, which represents the uniformed officers of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), says the problem began in 2020 when the United States Postal Service restricted their police jurisdiction to only postal property. He said USPS is ultimately sidelining its own highly trained police force.
“We specialize in stopping mail theft, arresting mail thieves, protecting letter carriers, and we can no longer do that. The Postal Service has decided that we should be protecting buildings, not the mail and not postal workers,” Albergo said.