‘Enough is enough’: USPS workers demand prosecution of robberies, assaults of mail carriers
“Enough is enough,” chanted North Texas USPS employees and members of the National Association of Letter Carriers in unison.
“There was a time when letter carriers going through neighborhoods delivering mail were off limits to criminals. Those times have changed. We need the postal service to protect its letter carriers,” said Shawn Boyd, national business agent with the NALC.
NALC members and letter carriers with USPS gathered Thursday outside a Dallas post office, asking federal prosecutors to arrest and prosecute people suspected of robbing and assaulting mail carriers.
According to Boyd, eight mail carriers in the Dallas area have been robbed at gunpoint from November 2023 to January 2024. In Fort Worth, two mail carriers were robbed at gunpoint in October 2023. In one of the Fort Worth robberies, a suspect used an AK-47-style rifle, a spokesperson with the NALC told the Star-Telegram.
The United States Postal Inspection Service also reported a robbery of a mail carrier in Fort Worth on Jan. 17 of this year in the 3700 block of Sydney Street. Officials are offering a $150,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person wanted in the offense.
Federal law says robbing a mail carrier calls for up to five years in prison. Assaulting a mail carrier calls for a 10-year sentence. Under the law, repeat offenders could get up to 25 years in prison if convicted of assault.
“This has caused a great fear among the letter carriers, not only in Dallas, but everywhere,” said Kim Lewis, president of the NALC’s 132nd Branch. “We’re needing your help. Please take this matter seriously, because we do have carriers who have to do their jobs.”
Brian Renfroe, the national president of the NALC, says the violence mail carriers have been experiencing is “out of control.”
“They’re under attack by violent criminals who have no regard for their health and safety,” said Renfroe. “Now you would think this violence would come with an increase in protection, awareness and community. Instead, like we often find ourselves, it seems like we only have one another.”
Since 2020, approximately 2,000 mail carriers nationwide have been violently attacked while on the job, according to Renfroe.
“It’s not just a growing problem here, but it’s also a growing problem all over the country,” said Renfroe. “This violence against our members must stop. Nearly every day, we hear of another story of a letter carrier being attacked, being robbed. Think about this. Targeted armed robberies, violence, shootings.”
Renfroe said that even killings of mail carriers have been reported.
“I’m furious that our members, the very people who serve as the eyes and ears of their communities, are the ones being targeted and harmed by these violent criminals,” said Renfroe.
Of the nearly 2,000 mail carriers nationwide who have been attacked, only 14 percent of cases have resulted in arrest and federal prosecution, according to Renfroe.
He says that the Department of Justice is not “doing its job” and that mail carriers are left to defend themselves.
“What that says to me, and more importantly, what that says to people that may commit these crimes against that member, is right now there’s a very high probability they get away [with] it,” said Renfroe. “No worker should live in fear while simply doing their job, but especially us [mail carriers], we’re the ones that serve our community.”
The national president said the local NALC members also gathered on behalf of the 280,000 members who make up the organization to call on federal prosecutors to prioritize every case in the country.
“If you attack a letter carrier, you’ll be punished to the fullest extent of the law,” said Renfroe.
The NALC asks people to report any crimes against mail carriers they might witness.
This story was originally published February 21, 2024 at 11:00 PM.
