Houston postal workers call for end to assault on mail carriers

HOUSTON - The National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) is leading a rally at the North Shepherd Post Office on Thursday evening. 

NALC aims to raise awareness of the growing trend of assaults and robberies targeting letter carriers in the Houston area. 

The gathering, titled "Enough is Enough," also seeks to demand an immediate halt to the incidents as their members deliver mail to the residents and businesses. 

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Once considered rare, these crimes are now growing in both frequency and severity, not just in Houston but also across Texas and the nation, according to the NALC.

They tell FOX 26 that at least 25 robberies targeting carriers have occurred in the Houston area in the last year - compared to previous incidents that would happen years apart from each other. This results in stolen mail and harm to the local community. Over 2000 similar incidents have been reported across the U.S. - an increase from 700 incidents reported in 2022. Leaders say only 14 percent of those crimes result in arrests or prosecutions.

Houston letter carrier Ulysses Wells tells Fox 26 about the moment he was robbed while delivering his mail in 2022. 

"That's just since January," said NALC National Business Agent Shawn Boyd. "Those numbers are numbers we haven't seen before, and we've been carrying mail for over 100 years." 

The group is demanding the USPS to take decisive action to protect its employees, not only in Houston but across the entire nation. They are also asking prosecutors to prosecute these crimes against federal workers to the fullest extent of the law. 

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"These assaults inflict fear, trauma, and physical injuries upon letter carriers," said an NALC spokesperson. "Furthermore, they detrimentally affect the communities they serve. Letter carriers, who often traverse the same routes for years, establish rapport with their customers and are attuned to irregularities. They frequently serve as the first point of contact in emergencies, alerting authorities to elderly residents' health crises, helping locate missing children, and even extinguishing small fires before they escalate." 

Houston carrier Ulysses Wells spoke to FOX 26 about his scary experience while delivering mail on his regular North Houston route in 2022. Wells says while putting mail in boxes in the Sable Ridge subdivision, three men got out of a car, attacked him, and demanded his postal key and personal belongings. 

"This is terrible, this is scary, this is frightening," says Wells. "We need protection. And we need protection now. When I'm at work, I’m just nervous. I’m just praying for the safety of my coworkers. I try to look out for them. They try to look out for me."

On Thursday, the USPS provided an update on their Project Safe Delivery Campaign - an effort to crack down on postal crimes and attacks on employees. Their increasing monetary rewards for information that may lead to arrests or convictions of people who commit the crimes. 

"We have effectively focused our efforts with USPS on hardening both physical and digital targets to combat threats to postal employees and secure the mail. We continue to turn up the pressure and put potential perpetrators on notice; If you attack Postal employees, steal the mail, or commit other postal crimes, Postal Inspectors will bring you to justice," said Chief Postal Inspector Gary Barksdale. "We ask that the public assist us with our mission. Our rewards for information have increased substantially, highlighting the importance of the safety and security of our employees and the mail. If you see something, say something, and help us bring to justice those that cause harm to postal employees, steal mail, or commit other postal crimes."