Amid Hamburg robbery, USPS talks ways to keep mail safe

HAMBURG, N.Y. (WIVB) — In Hamburg, police are continuing to investigate a robbery that took place Friday. Officials said a mail carrier was held at knife point.

Police said the incident happened on McKinley Parkway near Newton Road, with the suspect still at large and in possession of a stolen mail key.

“This is not something you see often in the town of Hamburg,” said Town Supervisor Randy Hoak.

Police say around 11 a.m. Friday, the suspect, brandishing a knife, confronted a USPS carrier who was on her normal route, collecting parcels from a cluster box on the street. The alleged robber took an 'arrow key,' which can be used to unlock mailboxes and drop points in the Hamburg area.

WIVB spoke with president David Grosskopf Jr. of the National Association of Letter Carriers branch 3, who said the carrier wasn't hurt.

“She said she kind of saw some movement, looked up and back from the backside of a fence, a Black male came up, brandishing a pretty large knife,” Grosskopf said. “She did exactly what she was supposed to -- follow all his directions. [She] turned the key over, ran to the closest home and they called the Hamburg Police Department, who showed up there very quickly."

Grosskopf said while this isn't a common thing in Western New York, as of July this year there have been over 430 letter carriers who’ve been robbed for these keys across the nation.

“There are a lot of people that are looking to get into personal documents and interfere with the U.S. Mail, and they're able to wash checks and gain access to personal funds,” Hoak said.

Now that the key is in the wind, are there any failsafes in place to protect neighbors' mail?

“We're going to need to rely on the community. There is no failsafe once they've got that key," Grosskopf said. "Obviously, usually under the cover of night, you will see these thieves go up to those blue collection boxes.”

Grosskopf said this old-school system of a physical key will eventually be removed. He added that there is a bill in Congress right now that looks to add police details to mail routes, make robbing a letter carrier carry the same legal implications as assaulting a police officer and raise funding for new equipment.

“We're installing new collection boxes that the carrier can use either their scanner or a key fob to unlock that box," Grosskopf said. "That way if we're approached, the Postal Service can immediately basically hit a Kill switch and turn that thing off."

The investigation is still ongoing. Anyone with any information is asked to contact the Town of Hamburg Police Department at (716) 648-5111.