Officials address postal theft problem

Mail theft continues to be a problem for neighborhoods with cluster mailboxes all over the region. After a surge of Folsom cluster mailbox burglary reports in December, other neighborhoods in the city have faced similar issues.

According to Lisa Miller-Hobbs, a 20-year Folsom resident, the cluster mail boxes located on Stockman Circle were broken into Jan. 2. Miller-Hobbs and her husband were told the mailboxes would be repaired within a few weeks and that they would have to pick up their mail at the post office in the meantime.

This is Miller-Hobbs’ second incident with mail theft, and both she and her husband have been victims of identity theft, as well.

Bringing up these latest incidents in her neighborhood, Miller-Hobbs wrote a letter to several Folsom city officials sharing her discontent with the situation and demanding action.

“The Folsom Post Office made no attempt to notify the resident victims,” Miller-Hobbs said in her letter. “If it wasn’t for the neighbor’s handwritten note, none of us would have known a thing if we had not seen the front of the boxes wide open.”

Miller-Hobbs expressed her frustration with the “pass the buck” mentality she perceived from the U.S. Postal Service, developers, homeowners associations and City of Folsom.

The use of cluster mailboxes was also a concern given their lack of security.

“It only takes a few seconds with a large crow bar to pop open these cluster type mailboxes,” Miller-Hobbs said. “If more secure receptacles were required by city code, then maybe the citizens of Folsom wouldn’t be victim to the same crime time after time. … (They) are either blissfully unaware that they are endangering the personal security of their citizens/homeowners/customers or they just don’t care.”

Officials address postal theft problem