Crimes against postal workers are continuing across greater Cincinnati. During a one week span at the end of September, two mail carriers were the victims of armed robbery in Cincinnati neighborhoods. Thieves continue to target mail carriers, searching for their arrow key – a universal key that opens all the blue boxes and cluster boxes in a given zip code.So far this year, WLWT has reported on postal workers held up on the job in Norwood in January, College Hill in July and Covington in August. In September, two mail carriers were robbed in Cincinnati, one on Halstead Street in Fairview and another in Hust Alley in Over-The-Rhine. There were also two mail carriers robbed in late September in Dayton.”I just had a guy hold me up with a gun. He took my scanner and my keys from my mail truck,” the victim told 911 dispatchers following the robbery in Fairview. “I’m pretty sure he was looking for my arrow key.”He reported a man forced him to the ground and told him to count to 30.The United States Postal Inspection Service has posted rewards leading to arrests in certain cases across the country, from California to Texas, Missouri, New York, Tennessee and Florida. The reward offerings typically range from $10,000 dollars to $50,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction. WLWT has been tracking mail theft and robberies of mail carriers since it started happening in January. Last week, WLWT asked the local postal inspector if there were rewards available for any incidents under investigation in Cincinnati or northern Kentucky. The answer was no. That is until Monday morning. Investigators are now offering up to $50,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the armed robbery of a USPS letter carrier in Hust Alley in Over-The-Rhine. It happened near Frintz Street. The postal inspector said the suspect was last seen getting into a gray Nissan sedan and driving on East Clifton Avenue.Anyone with information is asked to contact the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 1-877-876-2455. The case number is 3837816.USPS and the postal inspector have declined all requests for interviews.The postal inspector said following the most recent robberies, safety talks were done at the respective post offices and neighboring post offices, with tips for letter carriers to protect themselves.If a carrier is robbed, they are advised to remain calm, give the robbers what they want and call 911 afterward.Body camera video obtained exclusively by WLWT shows Cincinnati police responding after a mailman was robbed in the July incident on Knollwood Lane in College Hill. The mailman told police he was robbed by two young men in masks.”He’s got my key to my apartment building and that’s a universal key,” the victim said. “Nothing they could probably do with the scanner, but the keys, they could do some damage with that key.”The robbery happened before 11 a.m.As WLWT previously reported, thieves are targeting mail carriers to steal their USPS arrow keys, which can then either be sold on the dark web or used by the original thieves to open USPS collection boxes and steal mail. Thieves are stealing checks out of the mail, which are often sold and washed for amounts much higher than the owner wrote the check out for. The scheme has left Hamilton County residents alone out of millions of dollars collectively in 2022.The impact of the crimes can be felt throughout and beyond Hamilton County too. “Our department has over 100 reports just here from Madeira residents alone,” said Madeira police Lt. Paul Phillips. “You’ve got to think criminals sometimes work just as hard as we do.”Phillips said mail theft is the suburb’s most prevalent crime this year. “The difficult part about these crimes is it may be a month later from when your mail was stolen that you find out you’re a victim,” Phillips said. “When they find out that their $100 check was turned into a $10,000 check and the money was actually taken out of their account, that’s scary.” Local police departments highly recommend victims file police reports. Most banks require victims to do so in order to be refunded. The police departments then pass the reports along to the United States Postal Inspection Service.WLWT reached out to state representatives about the ongoing issues involving mail theft and carrier robberies.”USPS needs to do better than it’s done,” said U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown. Brown, who is a Democrat, said his office has been asking questions of USPS and its leaders, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, since 2020. DeJoy was appointed under the Trump administration that same year.”We’ve received responses that are inadequate,” Brown said. “We’ve been sending him letters and outlining what we think he can do. I’m hopeful he will get better or he will need to resign and be replaced… He needs to begin to put special emphasis on protecting privacy of the mail and safety of mail carriers. He’s been frankly asleep on the job.” The frustration over the mail theft issue, which seems to be getting worse, is bi-partisan. Republican U.S. Senator Rob Portman is one of four U.S. senators who penned a joint letter to DeJoy in May 2022. In the letter, the senators expressed concern with “ongoing reports of mail being stolen out of U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Blue Collection boxes.” They also requested a response from USPS within 30 days. USPS responded 71 days later in a two-page letter, assuring the four U.S. senators the postal service is “committed to providing safe and secure mail delivery service” and that leadership takes the security of the mail “very seriously.” The letter responded to questions about mechanisms USPS has in place to identify and investigate lost or stolen universal keys, what’s being done to improve management controls and recommendations provided by the USPS OIG and the postal service’s plans to mitigate mail theft out of blue collection boxes. In the letter, USPS said it “plans to improve its existing universal key inventory management processes by conducting annual universal key certification by Postmasters and station managers; universal key process training for all levels of retail, delivery, executive and administrative personnel; and certification training.”USPS said it is exploring “new technology and strategies to minimize theft” like newly deployed high security collection boxes. It is unclear where those boxes have been deployed. USPS advises customers who are utilizing blue collection boxes to only use the boxes before the last pickup time of the day or go inside the post office.
Crimes against postal workers are continuing across greater Cincinnati.
During a one week span at the end of September, two mail carriers were the victims of armed robbery in Cincinnati neighborhoods. Thieves continue to target mail carriers, searching for their arrow key – a universal key that opens all the blue boxes and cluster boxes in a given zip code.
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So far this year, WLWT has reported on postal workers held up on the job in Norwood in January, College Hill in July and Covington in August.
In September, two mail carriers were robbed in Cincinnati, one on Halstead Street in Fairview and another in Hust Alley in Over-The-Rhine. There were also two mail carriers robbed in late September in Dayton.
“I just had a guy hold me up with a gun. He took my scanner and my keys from my mail truck,” the victim told 911 dispatchers following the robbery in Fairview. “I’m pretty sure he was looking for my arrow key.”
He reported a man forced him to the ground and told him to count to 30.
The United States Postal Inspection Service has posted rewards leading to arrests in certain cases across the country, from California to Texas, Missouri, New York, Tennessee and Florida. The reward offerings typically range from $10,000 dollars to $50,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
WLWT has been tracking mail theft and robberies of mail carriers since it started happening in January. Last week, WLWT asked the local postal inspector if there were rewards available for any incidents under investigation in Cincinnati or northern Kentucky.
The answer was no. That is until Monday morning.
Investigators are now offering up to $50,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the armed robbery of a USPS letter carrier in Hust Alley in Over-The-Rhine.
It happened near Frintz Street. The postal inspector said the suspect was last seen getting into a gray Nissan sedan and driving on East Clifton Avenue.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 1-877-876-2455. The case number is 3837816.
USPS and the postal inspector have declined all requests for interviews.
The postal inspector said following the most recent robberies, safety talks were done at the respective post offices and neighboring post offices, with tips for letter carriers to protect themselves.
If a carrier is robbed, they are advised to remain calm, give the robbers what they want and call 911 afterward.
Body camera video obtained exclusively by WLWT shows Cincinnati police responding after a mailman was robbed in the July incident on Knollwood Lane in College Hill. The mailman told police he was robbed by two young men in masks.
“He’s got my key to my apartment building and that’s a universal key,” the victim said. “Nothing they could probably do with the scanner, but the keys, they could do some damage with that key.”
The robbery happened before 11 a.m.
As WLWT previously reported, thieves are targeting mail carriers to steal their USPS arrow keys, which can then either be sold on the dark web or used by the original thieves to open USPS collection boxes and steal mail. Thieves are stealing checks out of the mail, which are often sold and washed for amounts much higher than the owner wrote the check out for.
The scheme has left Hamilton County residents alone out of millions of dollars collectively in 2022.
The impact of the crimes can be felt throughout and beyond Hamilton County too.
“Our department has over 100 reports just here from Madeira residents alone,” said Madeira police Lt. Paul Phillips. “You’ve got to think criminals sometimes work just as hard as we do.”
Phillips said mail theft is the suburb’s most prevalent crime this year.
“The difficult part about these crimes is it may be a month later from when your mail was stolen that you find out you’re a victim,” Phillips said. “When they find out that their $100 check was turned into a $10,000 check and the money was actually taken out of their account, that’s scary.”
Local police departments highly recommend victims file police reports. Most banks require victims to do so in order to be refunded.
The police departments then pass the reports along to the United States Postal Inspection Service.
WLWT reached out to state representatives about the ongoing issues involving mail theft and carrier robberies.
“USPS needs to do better than it’s done,” said U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown.
Brown, who is a Democrat, said his office has been asking questions of USPS and its leaders, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, since 2020. DeJoy was appointed under the Trump administration that same year.
“We’ve received responses that are inadequate,” Brown said. “We’ve been sending him letters and outlining what we think he can do. I’m hopeful he will get better or he will need to resign and be replaced… He needs to begin to put special emphasis on protecting privacy of the mail and safety of mail carriers. He’s been frankly asleep on the job.”
The frustration over the mail theft issue, which seems to be getting worse, is bi-partisan.
Republican U.S. Senator Rob Portman is one of four U.S. senators who penned a joint letter to DeJoy in May 2022. In the letter, the senators expressed concern with “ongoing reports of mail being stolen out of U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Blue Collection boxes.” They also requested a response from USPS within 30 days.
USPS responded 71 days later in a two-page letter, assuring the four U.S. senators the postal service is “committed to providing safe and secure mail delivery service” and that leadership takes the security of the mail “very seriously.” The letter responded to questions about mechanisms USPS has in place to identify and investigate lost or stolen universal keys, what’s being done to improve management controls and recommendations provided by the USPS OIG and the postal service’s plans to mitigate mail theft out of blue collection boxes.
In the letter, USPS said it “plans to improve its existing universal key inventory management processes by conducting annual universal key certification by Postmasters and station managers; universal key process training for all levels of retail, delivery, executive and administrative personnel; and certification training.”
USPS said it is exploring “new technology and strategies to minimize theft” like newly deployed high security collection boxes. It is unclear where those boxes have been deployed.
USPS advises customers who are utilizing blue collection boxes to only use the boxes before the last pickup time of the day or go inside the post office.