It’s the holiday season, which means delivery drivers will be hustling Christmas gifts with dangerous Grinches lurking.
Recent robberies and carjackings of delivery drivers have put a spotlight on the threats they face as they handle the rush of shipments and presents. Drivers for Amazon, FedEx and UPS have all been targeted over the past month.
The US Postal Service is also vulnerable, with assaults on postal workers up 231% over the last three years, according to the Postal Police Officers Association.
Per Postal Service data, 412 mail carriers were robbed in 2020. In just the first half of this year, 305 employee robberies have been reported.
Armed robberies of letter carriers increased sharply between 2018 and 2021, rising from 36 to 154 reported incidents, according to the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS).
Mail carriers and delivery drivers in Chicago, Cincinnati, Houston, Phoenix, San Francisco and other cities over the past two months demanded safer conditions for delivery workers on their routes at “Enough is Enough” rallies via the National Association of Letter Carriers.
Recently, US Postal Inspection Service National Public Information Officer Michael Martel told Fox News Digital that thieves have been after postal workers’ “arrow keys” — which can be used to open most postal boxes — after instructions on how to use and spot them proliferated online.
Using those keys, he said, thieves can obtain financial documents like Social Security checks to commit fraud, along with prescriptions and other valuable items.
The keys can reportedly command thousands of dollars on the black market.
ROBBED AT GUNPOINT: Terrifying video shows 2 brazen criminals robbing a delivery person on 1/13. He was not hurt. They’ve been arrested, thanks to our criminal analysts & robbery detectives. With 85 felony charges & 11 convictions in their history, we hope they stay locked up. pic.twitter.com/cSIoVt3pME
In May of this year, Martel said, USPIS expanded its “Project Safe Delivery” program in light of increased robberies and mail thefts.
As part of the initiative, the agency installed over 10,000 mail collection boxes upgraded with additional security features, Martel said, and 6,500 additional electronic locks.
Also since May, USPIS and law enforcement agencies around the country have carried out 109 arrests for robberies and more than 530 arrests for mail theft.
As part of the initiative, the agency installed over 10,000 mail collection boxes upgraded with additional security features, Martel said, and 6,500 additional electronic locks.
“There is certainly increased opportunity for mail theft to occur around the holiday season,” Martel said Thursday. “The Postal Service and project safe delivery will continue through the holidays to keep American mail and our employees safe.”
On Tuesday, the agency arrested 20-year-old Devan Flax in connection to two armed robberies of USPS carriers in Chicago, the agency wrote in a press release.
The man had robbed one letter carrier at gunpoint on Saturday, the agency said, then another on Tuesday.
Upon his arrest, two stolen postal keys and the firearm used in the robberies were confiscated. Flax was charged with two counts of armed robbery, one count of aggravated robbery and three counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.
Martel said thieves also break into carriers’ trucks and curbside boxes for packages en route.
Most recently, an Amazon driver in New Haven, Connecticut, was held up by four carjackers — one armed — as he unloaded packages from his truck early Wednesday.
The armed man pointed his weapon at the driver and demanded he get inside the truck. The men gathered the packages in the vehicle, then fled the scene. The New Haven Police Department said the driver was shaken but unharmed.