The trend of theft in the world seems to rise every day, and Houston is no stranger to it. But now the Feds say that USPS workers in Houston are stealing mail from residents, instead of ever delivering it.
In fact, 37 Houston USPS workers have been indicted on mail theft charges since January 1st, 2018. They steal anything from gift cards to cash in envelopes. Attorney Jared Woodfill says this is taking advantage of the public's trust.
"When we put something in the mail, we expect it to be safe," he says. "Obviously, it just causes individuals to lose more confidence in the United States Postal Service."
Across the state, 277 mail theft cases involving employee mail theft were closed, all just between April 2021, and March 2023. Outcomes ranged from total exoneration to criminal action.
All this theft has led to the drop in trust. But it also may lead to a rise in shipping costs, especially with cost of stamps increasing.
"It is part of the larger problem...prices are going up, and that is because people are not using the USPS...they are going to other organizations like FedEx, or UPS," he says. "Amazon even has its own delivery service...clearly, the postal service has a dire future, and needs to make changes quickly."
But just beyond cost to consumers, this impacts another aspect of our lives: elections.
Woodfill says that, regardless of what your opinions are of the 2020 election, you have to question the legitimacy of mail-in voting.
"We know that voter fraud is occurring...part of the process is the USPS. If there are individuals in there willing to steal a gift card, clearly there are people in there who are willing to work to compromise an election," he says.
For the post office to have any chance of survival, it needs to get the people believing in them again.
"We need to identify where it is occurring, how much of it is occurring, and stop it from occurring in the future, so people can have confidence in the USPS and their voting system," Woodfill says.
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