Just under two weeks ago, a United States Postal Service mail carrier was killed in Warren.

In 2023, there were two reported incidents where mail carriers were robbed of their “arrow” keys while delivering mail in the Youngstown area. On Wednesday, there was another incident where someone robbed a mail carrier of his “arrow” key.

While none of the mail carriers who were robbed in the Youngstown area were injured, something simply must be done to protect them from these crimes moving forward.

This past weekend, reporters from this newspaper asked what is being done to protect mail carriers in the area. Local postmasters in Youngstown and Warren did not reply to requests for comment. Naddia Dhalai, a spokeswoman for the USPS, provided a news release but declined to comment further.

The news release listed statistics that 412 USPS letter carriers were robbed on the job in 2022 and that number increased to 305 in the first half of fiscal year 2023. It also stated there was a high level of mail thefts in both fiscal years, including 38,500 in 2022 and 25,000 in 2023.

The release also stated that the USPS and the Postal Inspection Service have made efforts to expand its Project Safe Delivery crime-prevention initiative. To fulfill that plan, USPS installed 12,000 high-security blue collection boxes across the United States and replaced approximately 49,000 “antiquated” arrow locks with electronic locks.

In our eyes, arrow keys, which are called arrow keys because they fit into locks made by the Arrow Lock Manufacturing Co. of Connecticut, must be eliminated. They have been the target of all three of the reported robberies in Youngstown, and switching to electric locks, which they have done in areas around the country, would prevent thieves from easily obtaining a piece of equipment that would allow them to access multiple mailboxes.

However, that can’t be the only thing done to prevent further crime against mail carriers in the area. This newspaper believes that the USPS can reinitiate practices they’ve used in the past to protect mail carriers.

In 2021, Frank Albergo, head of the Postal Service Police Association, told Cleveland television station News 5 that a postal police officer patrolling in areas where theft against postal workers was occurring was an effective tool. It was taken away, however.

Around the same time frame, a directive was given to U.S. Postal Service Police to stop investigating mail thefts off postal service property.

This newspaper believes that eliminating arrow keys, providing patrols in certain areas and restarting investigations of incidents that take place off postal service property would quell any threats or incidents that might continue in the Mahoning Valley area. If these solutions are not possible, we implore local leaders to address this problem and find a solution to stop these crimes.