Mail Theft on the Rise Across Central Coast

SANTA MARIA, Calif. – Mail theft continues to rise at an alarming rate, with Central Coast residents experiencing a surge in thefts and subsequent fraudulent activity.

Residents have reported stolen mail, often with no signs of forced entry or vandalism. Some say secure, shared mailboxes have been found wide open and emptied.

Orcutt resident Kelly Ayers discovered her condo’s shared mailbox open in January, with her book of bank checks missing.

“In this neighborhood, all our mailboxes were open. So it wasn’t just mine; it was the entire 500 block’s. They probably just drove right down here, opened them, and raided them,” Ayers said.

In Nipomo, Evelyn Lavergne has had her mailbox broken into multiple times—once even ripped from the ground using a chain.

“My daughter called me and said, ‘Mom, you did it again. You left the mailbox door open.’ I said, ‘No, I didn’t. I definitely shut it.’ So she was perturbed about it,” Lavergne said.

Since the pandemic, mail theft has increased at an alarming rate. Between 2019 and 2022, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service reported an 87% increase in high-volume theft from mailboxes.

So who is responsible for protecting the mail?

“The Postal Inspection Service employs postal police officers, who are akin to uniformed cops, and postal inspectors, who are essentially criminal investigators—think of them as detectives,” said Frank Albergo, president of the Postal Police Association.

Albergo said the rise in mail theft is no coincidence.

“In 2020, the Postal Service decided that postal police officers should no longer protect the mail and should no longer protect postal workers during delivery,” he said.

According to the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, in August 2020, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy issued a memo directing postal police to only guard Postal Service facilities, removing them from street patrols and other previous jurisdictions.

The Postal Police are a fully equipped law enforcement unit under the Postal Inspection Service. They are trained to protect postal facilities, mail carriers, and the public.

A recent report by the Government Accountability Office shows robberies of mail carriers have more than doubled since the pandemic.

“Why isn’t the Postal Service utilizing postal police to stop this mail theft epidemic? They were already being paid—use them,” Albergo said.

Law enforcement officials say criminals are specifically targeting master keys, also known as arrow keys.

“The criminals get that arrow key, and once they have it, they have access to all the mail in every blue collection box, every apartment panel, every cluster box, and every relay box,” Albergo said.

Ayers believes the person who stole her mail used an arrow key.

“This time when it was broken into, it wasn’t vandalized,” she said.

In February, Santa Maria police confirmed at least three cases of mail theft but reported no missing arrow keys. Authorities do not believe those thefts are connected to Ayers’ case in Orcutt.

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office has not received any recent reports of stolen arrow keys. Any reports of mail theft are forwarded to the Postal Inspection Service.

The U.S. Postal Service recommends promptly removing mail from your mailbox after delivery and having your local post office hold your mail if you are on vacation.

Additionally, the Postal Service is rolling out electronic locks to replace arrow locks in major metropolitan areas and increasing accountability reviews in high-crime areas.

The Trump administration has announced improvement plans for the U.S. Postal Service in the coming weeks and months.

The 2020 memo has been the subject of a long-running legal battle.

Court documents show the Postal Service has rescinded the memo, but the Postal Police Union argues there is still a lack of clarity on what officers can do to protect mail carriers.

Albergo urges residents to write to their congressional representatives and advocate for the reinstatement of full postal police patrols.