Amid Growing Violence Against USPS Letter Carriers, Congresswoman Gwen Moore Raises Safety Concerns and Seeks Answers from Postmaster General DeJoy

Today, Congresswoman Moore sent a letter to Postmaster General DeJoy calling for additional efforts to protect United States Postal Service (USPS) workers. This letter comes as Milwaukee police have reported five armed robberies of letter carriers this year alone and Aundre Cross, a letter carrier, was fatally shot last December while delivering mail. In her letter, she again raised concerns about a reported USPS policy change which restricts the U.S. Postal Inspection Service jurisdiction to solely protecting Postal Service real property. She also sought updates on USPS’s effort to better protect its blue boxes against theft, including by improving design to combat known tactics, improving locking mechanisms and other steps which can help prevent mail theft and the organized groups that are targeting postal employees to facilitate these violent crimes. Additionally, she called for the creation of a taskforce in Milwaukee to address attacks against USPS letter carriers in the region and to take measures to protect these vital workers.

“I urge you to take all necessary steps to protect postal employees, who work tirelessly to serve our communities.

Like many other parts of the country, my Congressional District (WI-04) has experienced an alarming increase in armed robberies and assaults against postal employees. In this year alone, Milwaukee police have reported at least five armed robberies of letter carriers to obtain master arrow keys.[1] And as you know, Aundre Cross, a USPS letter carrier was shot and killed while delivering mail last December 2022. With these increasing attacks, it is critical that the Postal Service proactively works to use all available resources and tools to better protect its employees, working closely with other federal, state, and local officials,” wrote Congresswoman Moore.

“Lastly, in the Milwaukee area, I urge you to work with partners to create a dedicated Task Force of law enforcement personnel at the federal, state, and local levels to help identify, disrupt, and prosecute those involved in schemes to attack our postal employees in order to steal the mail,” Congresswoman Moore continued.

Read the full text of the letter here.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.