HOUSTON – Last week, letter carriers on the job in Houston were the victims of armed robberies, according to reports from multiple sources.
In one of the incidents that happened on Nov. 6, at an apartment complex on Beechnut near the Sam Houston Tollway, a latter carrier was relieved of his “arrow key.”
Arrow keys are tightly controlled by the United States Postal Service because they are capable of opening hundreds of cluster mailboxes across an extended area.
The other incident, which was reported first on social media, happened just last Friday in the 2000 block of Chestnut Street, just north of downtown. A letter carrier was robbed on his route, according to a post on Neighborly.
Last month, letter carriers in the Houston area held a rally, expressing concerns about their own safety on the job.
The incidents come during a time when the United States Postal Inspection Service, the USPS police, have been confined to patrolling federal government postal service properties instead of investigating crimes out in the community.
“Letter carriers are literally pleading with postal service, ‘We need protection we need protection,’” Frank Albergo, the National President for the Postal Police Officers Association, said.