I can tell you that twice I have been a victim of checks taken during those thefts. In both cases, the name of the payee was changed, and the check was processed through a mobile deposit. In one instance the amount was not changed and it appeared on my bank statement very normal, unless or until I actually pulled up the image of the check. In the other instance, they white-washed my check and inserted a new payee and a new large amount. Thankfully, that amount did trigger my alarm bell and I was able to thwart it. Those are just two examples of what so many people in our community have experienced.
The real question is: Why can’t the post office protect our mail, particularly since it has a statutory obligation to do so?
Sure, there have been a few arrests and we are all grateful for those. But those arrests will not protect our mail in the future from other thieves and grifters. The Police say, “Just don’t put your mail in the free-standing blue boxes. Take them to the mail slots inside the post office.” Unfortunately, that is not a solution to the problem.
I have seen and I applaud Senator Sherrod Brown’s efforts to do something about it, demanding a response from Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, the inexperienced Trump-appointed postmaster who seems to be more interested in cutting back than in going forward. As yet, DeJoy has not responded to Senator Brown, so there is no DeJoy in Mudville, Dayton or anywhere else in our community.
At a minimum, the United States Post Office should assume responsibility for solving this problem and not just shove it off to the local police. It is a postal problem, and the Postal Police have the responsibility to protect the mail that you and I give to them.
This is a sophisticated world, and I don’t pretend to be able to tell the United States Post Office how to solve its problems, except to suggest that there may be many technologies and devices that could be a lot better than the “one key fits all” approach that is currently in place. I understand that it is complicated, perhaps by constrictions by its own budget and perhaps by required legislation. However, even within the existing system, they could consider surveillance cameras, combination locks that could be changed from time to time, and perhaps a variety of other technological or electronic options.
The inaction of the Postmaster General and the United States Post Office to solve this problem is worse than the rain, the sleet, the snow and the freezing temperatures. Maybe we need the Pony Express to come back to protect our mail.
Dayton attorney Merle Wilberding is a regular contributor.
About the Author