DETROIT (WXYZ) — Fed up and fearing for their safety, local postal workers gathered in downtown Detroit Monday evening for a rally to raise awareness about the increase in assaults and robberies on the job.
According to the United States Postal Service, in 2020 412 mail carriers were robbed on the job. In just the first half of 2023, that number already sits at 305. It’s an alarming trend that the National Association of Letter Carriers says needs to be dealt with, especially with the holidays right around the corner and more mail and packages moving through the community.
“People know we’re carrying more packages than we normally do, so it just stands to reason that we could become larger targets," NALC President Brian Renfroe said. "That’s most definitely a concern."
NALC is over 280,000 members strong with branches all across Michigan and the rest of the country. Renfroe says the union is working with legislators to help deal with this growing problem. He believes stronger prosecution of those who attempt to harm a postal worker are necessary and he is disheartened by the low percentage of prosecutions when it comes to robbing a postal worker.
"Since 2020... 14% of these crimes have had both an arrest and a prosecution," Renfroe said.
The union would also like to see newer technology of the mail keys criminals are after. The keys access mail collection boxes, apartment mailboxes and private mail boxes that contain the community's private information.
“A big part of the solution is to devalue that key. Potentially using a technology solution so that if they did get their hands on it, it wouldn’t be nearly as valuable and wouldn’t give them the access that they currently have," Renfroe said.
It's something Matt McBee wants to see because he’s a victim himself. Last July, he was on his usual route near 12 Mile and Telegraph roads in Southfield when he realized something was very wrong.
“I almost didn’t go home," he said as he got choked up. "I felt a gun on my head. I could tell that’s an AK."
The two masked suspects got away with McBee's keys and his sense of safety on the job.
“It’s a trauma that I've got to live with for the rest of my life," he said. "I don’t think it’s ever going away because I still hear noises, see things out of the corner of my eye.”
Most recently in Northville Township, another armed robbery was carried out on a postal worker who was only nine months into her new job. Arrests were made in that incident.
“I never (thought it would) happen to me, and I couldn’t breathe when I think about it," Tran Do said through tears at the rally.
Clearly shaken up and traumatized, these mail carriers say something needs to happen to change the trends and keep letter carriers safe nationwide.
