QUEENS, N.Y. (PIX11) -- A new report found that mail theft is rampant in Queens. It also claims the United States Postal Service is mishandling the problem.
According to USPS, between April and September of last year, nearly 3,300 inquiries were made to USPS about missing mail or potential mail theft in Queens. Of these, 45 percent were found to be related to stolen mail.
Queens Congresswoman Grace Meng says mail theft has been an issue in the borough for years.
She says, “It could be anything from a grandparent waiting for a birthday card from their grandkid to someone’s w2 being stolen with their identity, sensitive identity information being stolen.”
Last year, USPS and the Postal Inspection Service launched Project Safe Delivery to address the problem nationwide. The initiative included implementing high-security collection boxes, e-locks, and modified arrow keys.
Meng says, “We were thrilled. It included revamping how the locks were installed on the green relay boxes and how the keys were given out, and we thought, okay, this will solve the problem!”
But Meng says the problem only got worse, so she pushed USPS’s Office of Inspector General to conduct an audit in Queens. The audit was conducted at three locations in the borough, and the results were just released.
Meng says, “The audit gave us findings that were worse than I imagine//even though they had this project safe delivery there wasn’t a lot of accountability or transparency with management about how the strategies were being implemented.”
The audit also found the rollout of HSCBS and e-locks was not properly managed, and in some cases, arrow keys were not properly secured. Blue collection and green relay boxes were not always maintained.
As a result of this report, the Inspector General has issued several recommendations for USPS. The 7 recommendations include creating a comprehensive plan to carry out mail theft initiatives across the country. USPS says it will implement the recommendations in the next five months to a year.
Meng said, “We’re grateful for the report because it gives specific steps and a timeline for what management has to be do to protect the mail carriers and make sure mail isn’t stolen
Flushing resident Cathi Venis agrees. She’s dealt with missing mail before and is hopeful change is on its way.
Venis says, “It’s our right to get our mail.”
She adds, “Bank statements you can go online but for something like sentimental, like a photograph or a greeting card you can’t get that back.”
PIX11 News contacted the Office of the Inspector General, but they were not available for an interview. We did not hear back from the Inspection Service. USPS referred us to the audit.
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