There is a spike in violent crimes against postal workers, according to the union that represents most of the workers in New England.
Twice in the last week in the Boston area, a postal worker was robbed of their mail key — a robbery was caught on camera Thursday in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood.
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A third attempted robbery happened Friday evening on Capen Street in Dorchester, police said. The letter carrier reported being attacked by three males, but no weapon was shown and nothing was taken.
Investigators said a postal worker was held at gunpoint near a post office on Talbot Avenue.
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Thursday’s robbery in Dorchester comes just a day after police said two men wearing masks assaulted a postal worker in Randolph, Massachusetts, stealing his “arrow key.”
The postal worker’s ribs were hurt.
The National Association of Letter Carriers, which represents most postal workers in New England, told NBC10 Boston there have been more than 2,000 attempted or successful robberies and/or assaults against postal workers since 2020 nationwide, and there has been an uptick in the last several months.
“We’re asking for and we’re looking for is more federal prosecutors to take on these cases, obviously there’s harder penalties that would be at the federal level and also a deterrent,” Ken Janulewicz with the National Association of Letter Carriers said.
The postal worker in Dorchester was not injured.
In both cases this past week, police had not made any arrests as of Friday evening.
