MPD: REDUCE THE RISK OF HAVING YOUR MAIL OR PACKAGES STOLEN

From: MPD-5D@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, October 21, 2016 7:14 PM
To: MPD-5D@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [MPD-5D] REDUCE THE RISK OF HAVING YOUR MAIL OR PACKAGES STOLEN 

REDUCE THE RISK OF HAVING YOUR MAIL OR PACKAGES STOLEN

                                        

With the holidays approaching, many people will be turning to the internet to buy gifts for friends and family. If you’re not home to receive the package, it may be left in plain sight of thieves. Please help us in our fight against mail package theft. Here’s what you can do to reduce the risk of having your packages stolen:

• Get a tracking number from the shipping company.

• Require a signature with the delivery.
• If you won’t be home, have the company leave the package at a local shipping center.
• Set up an obvious surveillance camera with your home security system.
• If UPS is making the delivery, get onboard with their UPS My Choice program, which
   sends an e-mail or text message to the customer just prior to package arrival; it will be
  rerouted if nobody is home.
• Insist that the driver leave the package in an inconspicuous area.
• Have the driver leave the package at your apartment’s or condo’s office.
• Retrieve your mail as quickly as possible after delivery.
• If you can’t retrieve it daily, have a trusted person get it.
• If you’re traveling, have the post office hold your mail until you get back.
• Never received mail you were expecting? Contact the sender to see if it was sent. If so,
   file a complaint with the post office. This also applies if the contents of mail are missing.
• Bring your checks or money orders to a postal collection box (personally give it to a
   postal worker) for the delivery driver to pick up; don’t leave checks or money orders in
   your home mailbox.
• Never leave packages outside your door.
• Alert recipients of your packages as to when they are to expect them.
• Insure any packages you send.
• Consider starting a neighborhood watch program. By exchanging work and vacation
   schedules with trusted friends and neighbors, you can watch each other’s mailboxes (as
   well as homes).
• If you observe a mail thief at work, call the local police immediately, and then call the
   US Postal Inspection Service at (877) 876-2455.

Along with notifying MPD, the US Postal Inspection Service advises the following: “If you believe your mail was stolen, report it immediately to your local postmaster or nearest Postal Inspector. You’ll be asked to file a formal complaint using PS Form 2016, Mail Theft and Vandalism Complaint. By analyzing information collected from the form, Postal Inspectors may determine whether your problem is isolated or part of a larger mail theft problem in your neighborhood–and it may help Postal Inspectors locate and apprehend the thieves.”

Consult with your local postmaster for the most up-to-date regulations on mailboxes,

including the availability of locked centralized or curbside mailboxes.

Lieutenant William Verna
Metropolitan Police Department
Fifth District

PSA 501