Dallas letter carriers robbed amid safety concerns and calls for better protection
Within the last 15 days, three United States Postal Service letter carriers have been robbed while on the job in the Dallas area.
It has letter carriers and postal police officers accusing the government of not doing enough to improve safety.
We have reported extensively about violent attacks on letter carriers over the past few years.
The U.S. Postal Service launched an initiative called Project Safe Delivery two years ago in an effort to protect mail and those who deliver it.
But three robberies in just over two weeks have some of them saying it's not working.
The latest robbery happened in Northeast Dallas last Wednesday.
That's when an arrow key was stolen, which can open any locked mailboxes in the zip code of 75243, where it was taken.
The arrow key is a master key carried by postal workers that opens most public collection boxes and community mailboxes.
Attempted robberies against two more letter carriers were made on May 20 and 21.
Robbers are after mail, which postal police officers say can be a treasure for thieves of checks, cash and personal information.
Veteran letter carrier Keandre Glover works right next to the neighborhood where the latest robbery occurred. He said there's really no way he and his coworkers can protect themselves.
"I got dog mace and a dog horn, that's about all I have," said Glover. "But there's nothing out here protecting us from those people wanting our keys."
"This is just getting worse and worse and worse," said Frank Albrego, with the Postal Police Officers Association. "Check fraud is out of control. It's out of control and nobody is doing much about it."
Abrego has been calling on USPS management to let them escort mail carriers in high-risk areas.
"Postal police officers who are specifically trained to stop mail theft are sitting around in buildings instead of guarding the mail, or protecting letter carriers," Abergo said. "And what's happening right now in Dallas is that letter carriers are being robbed."
So far, Glover has avoided becoming a victim but is asking postal service administrators to devote more resources to keeping letter carriers safe.
"They get to go home to their families," said Glover. "So why can't we?"
The U.S. Postal Inspector and Public Information Officer for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Fort Worth Division released the following statement to CBS News Texas:
"The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is aware and investigating the attempted robberies on May 20 and May 21 and robbery on May 28. Project Safe Delivery, the national joint initiative aimed at countering postal crime and safeguarding postal employees, continues to be a successful initiative.
Project Safe Delivery employs a holistic approach to address these crimes. It seeks to protect postal employees and the U.S. mail stream, prevent incidents through education and awareness, and enforce the laws that protect our nation's mail stream.
From May 12, 2023 - March 31, 2025, USPIS has arrested 424 individuals for robbery of postal employees. The USPIS has been successful in holding those who harm our postal employees accountable with our federal, state, and local partners resulting in arrests and convictions. Anyone with information related to robberies can be eligible for a reward up to $150,000 by calling (877) 876-2455."
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