November 30, 2023 3:00 a.m.

On Wednesday, Senator Ron Wyden and Senate colleagues introduced bipartisan legislation that would address the steep increase in armed robberies against postal workers.

A release said that is because they are often targeted for their arrow keys that allow access to some mailboxes and their contents.

Wyden said, “For over 200 years the United States Postal Service has been a central fixture of the American government. The recent cases of mail theft and the alarming uptick in assaults against postal workers is unacceptable”. Wyden said, “If Postmaster DeJoy refuses to act, Congress must do everything it can to improve protections for these essential workers”.

The release said the Postal Inspection Service reports that armed robberies of letter carriers increased sharply between 2018 and 2021, rising fourfold from 36 incidents to 154 incidents. The arrow keys can command thousands of dollars on the clandestine market because they allow access to cluster mailboxes and their contents, which include Social Security checks, prescriptions and other valuable items.

Wyden said the Postal Police Reform Act of 2023 would clarify provisions in current federal law to ensure that Postal Police Officers may be assigned to duty outside of Postal Service real property, for the purpose of protecting the mail, Postal Service property, persons on Postal Service property and on-duty Postal Service employees. The release said that this clarification will allow the Postal Service to assign Postal Police Officers to protect carriers against robberies. It will also provide flexibility as the service needs, without imposing additional costs.

The legislation was led by Senators Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, and Susan Collins, a Maine Republican. Alongside Wyden, the bill was cosponsored by nine other senators.

The text of the bill is linked: https://www.wyden.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/postal_police_reform_act_of_2023.pdf