Mail Theft and Responsibility...
August 12, 2008 3:12 PM Subscribe
Mail stolen...what further steps should I take? (if any!)
Around 11:30am this morning, as I was leaving for work, I picked up a couple of things out of our mailbox (Netflix movies), and called my boyfriend (who was just inside, but upstairs) to let him know he had a package. It was a manila envelope, small enough to fit in the mailbox.
He came down a couple of hours later to get it, but it was gone. This is the first incident of something being stolen, as far as I know. The junk mail had been left in the mailbox.
So...we're going to be installing a locking mailbox (I know, I know, after we left the barn door open, yes), and have the landlord's permission to do so.
In the interests of being a good neighbor/citizen, should I:
- let the other tenants in the house know? (they have their own unlocking mailboxes, of course)
- file a report of some kind, with the post office or police?
The package was probably worth around $10, so it's not the end of the world - but it was some cool buttons from etsy that the bf had ordered.
More details for those who are simply curious:
The maintenance guys were there today, and I asked them if they'd seen anyone loitering around, but they hadn't. They said the cleaning lady had been there and picked up a bunch of flyers and unwanted phone books off the front porch, which they actually helped me search through the trash for, but it wasn't in there. I suppose it could have been either those guys or the cleaning lady - but I've known the guys for about two years, and they haven't seemed fishy in the least, and they vouched for the cleaning lady.
We have a small shopping cart contingent, and some other not so desirable characters that stroll through from time to time, so who knows.
Around 11:30am this morning, as I was leaving for work, I picked up a couple of things out of our mailbox (Netflix movies), and called my boyfriend (who was just inside, but upstairs) to let him know he had a package. It was a manila envelope, small enough to fit in the mailbox.
He came down a couple of hours later to get it, but it was gone. This is the first incident of something being stolen, as far as I know. The junk mail had been left in the mailbox.
So...we're going to be installing a locking mailbox (I know, I know, after we left the barn door open, yes), and have the landlord's permission to do so.
In the interests of being a good neighbor/citizen, should I:
- let the other tenants in the house know? (they have their own unlocking mailboxes, of course)
- file a report of some kind, with the post office or police?
The package was probably worth around $10, so it's not the end of the world - but it was some cool buttons from etsy that the bf had ordered.
More details for those who are simply curious:
The maintenance guys were there today, and I asked them if they'd seen anyone loitering around, but they hadn't. They said the cleaning lady had been there and picked up a bunch of flyers and unwanted phone books off the front porch, which they actually helped me search through the trash for, but it wasn't in there. I suppose it could have been either those guys or the cleaning lady - but I've known the guys for about two years, and they haven't seemed fishy in the least, and they vouched for the cleaning lady.
We have a small shopping cart contingent, and some other not so desirable characters that stroll through from time to time, so who knows.
I had a missing package a few years ago and after calling the post office was told to call the police. The police came and I filed a report.
Luckily a few days later I was on a walk and happened to see a package on my neighbors front porch that looked alot like the package I was supposed to get. Turned out it was misdelivered, so had to call the police again.
posted by mcroft at 4:38 PM on August 12, 2008
Luckily a few days later I was on a walk and happened to see a package on my neighbors front porch that looked alot like the package I was supposed to get. Turned out it was misdelivered, so had to call the police again.
posted by mcroft at 4:38 PM on August 12, 2008
A very similar thing happened to me just last week. I left an envelope as outgoing mail, and it disappeared before the mailman got here. When I called the post office, they said since it was before the mail carrier got there, it wasn't something i could report to them.
I assume it's a similar issue with you since you had already been to your mailbox after the mail carrier.
The post office suggested i contact the police. Since i didn't want to be responsible for the lost package, i figured this was a good idea so I could get a copy of a report. The police came, said I couldn't get a report because it was technically "lost property" and not theft.
Unless you think it'll be a recurring problem, its probably not worth involving the police.
Letting the other tenants in the house know might be a good idea, just so they can keep an eye out.
posted by NormandyJack at 4:40 PM on August 12, 2008
I assume it's a similar issue with you since you had already been to your mailbox after the mail carrier.
The post office suggested i contact the police. Since i didn't want to be responsible for the lost package, i figured this was a good idea so I could get a copy of a report. The police came, said I couldn't get a report because it was technically "lost property" and not theft.
Unless you think it'll be a recurring problem, its probably not worth involving the police.
Letting the other tenants in the house know might be a good idea, just so they can keep an eye out.
posted by NormandyJack at 4:40 PM on August 12, 2008
Response by poster: Krautland - Yep, we did that, but just around the house, and the two trash cans nearby. I'll probably take a walk down the street tonight, for the heck of it.
posted by Liosliath at 4:59 PM on August 12, 2008
posted by Liosliath at 4:59 PM on August 12, 2008
Local police really don't have much to do with mail theft. Call the Postal Inspection Service. Even though the package was probably worth $10, it is a federal crime to steal someone's mail.
posted by C17H19NO3 at 5:53 PM on August 12, 2008
posted by C17H19NO3 at 5:53 PM on August 12, 2008
i'd hang a note advising neighbors of your theft and letting them know that the landlord will approve locking mailboxes. if the thief is a neighbor, it will alert them that you know the package was stolen, not misdelivered. even if it wasn't, it might deter future thieves who would rather not search the mailboxes of a building that is aware of theft and possibly watching.
it's not a great deterrent, of course, but at least the public service would be good for the karma.
posted by thinkingwoman at 6:29 PM on August 12, 2008
it's not a great deterrent, of course, but at least the public service would be good for the karma.
posted by thinkingwoman at 6:29 PM on August 12, 2008
Seconding C17H19NO3 - Contact the postal inspector. My friend's neighborhood went through a postal theft ordeal and long story short, the postal inspector set up a sting operation and it turned out the mail carrier was the culprit.
In general, I think people should always report crime no matter how trivial it may seem to them. What if a single individual was going around committing 50 trivial crimes a day? To each victim it may seem to be a nuisance but overall it's having an affect on a neighborhood, town, etc. The authorities will never know there is a problem as long as crimes go unreported. </rant>
posted by puritycontrol at 9:33 PM on August 12, 2008
In general, I think people should always report crime no matter how trivial it may seem to them. What if a single individual was going around committing 50 trivial crimes a day? To each victim it may seem to be a nuisance but overall it's having an affect on a neighborhood, town, etc. The authorities will never know there is a problem as long as crimes go unreported. </rant>
posted by puritycontrol at 9:33 PM on August 12, 2008
Nthing calling the postal inspector. A few years ago we had a big to-do at my office when our bank called to report someone trying to cash one of our checks, only the "Payee" name had been whited out with Liquid Paper and re-typed. My boss (who was a jerk anyway) kept inferring that I'd mailed the check to the wrong place and it was all my fault, and how many times had this happened before without the bank notifying us, etc. Anyway, several months later we received a bulletin from the Postal Inspector saying that there had been evidence that the mailboxes in our building had been burglarized and asked us to report any known missing mail.
posted by Oriole Adams at 1:21 AM on August 14, 2008
posted by Oriole Adams at 1:21 AM on August 14, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by krautland at 4:22 PM on August 12, 2008