As postal crimes skyrocket and the United State Postal Service (USPS) conducts an audit on policies and procedures for keeping postal workers safe in Ohio, one man has pleaded guilty to two armed robberies against mail carriers.
According to several reports, 20-year-old Brandon Campbell of Columbus “admitted to using violence and a weapon to endanger the mail carriers’ lives and steal property from them.”
Both robberies occurred in September.
In the first robbery, Campbell stole keys to a mail delivery vehicle and the mail carrier’s key to the ubiquitous USPS blue mailboxes. In the second, he only stole the mail carrier’s key to the universal mailboxes. He wore a mask and used a gun while holding up both mail carriers.
Campbell’s case is far from unique in Ohio.
In January, a string of Columbus mail carriers was robbed of their mailbox keys in a similar fashion.
In Cleveland, the blue mailboxes have been taped shut for fear that they will be robbed and residents will lose valuables to the thieves.
The cases are not limited to Ohio.
They are a steadily increasing problem across the country, according to Frank Albergo, the head of the Postal Police Officers Association (PPOA) who reached out to The Ohio Star after several reports on the issue,
He said that as postal crimes have skyrocketed nationwide, funding for postal police has plummeted.
“The Postal Inspection Service data revealed that mail theft reports soared by 600% over three years, from about 25,000 in 2017 to roughly 177,000 through August of 2020,” Albergo said, noting that “[Postal Police Officers] (PPOs) are a highly trained uniformed police force specializing in mail theft prevention and protection of postal employees.”
“PPOs, for years, were conducting mail theft prevention patrols by using data to target specific zip codes where mail theft was most prevalent. Unsurprisingly, it was working,” he continued. “But then on August 25, 2020, the Postal Service reinterpreted enabling statute in order to decrease postal police law enforcement jurisdiction thereby ending all postal police patrolling activities.”
The reported black market for stolen mail items – which includes checks, cash, credit cards and other valuables – is estimated to be more than $10 million.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
