It's not just dogs harassing mail carriers anymore, as a new report has found that from 2018 to 2021, robberies of mail workers have more than tripled.
The report from NBC News compiled U.S. Postal Inspection Service data through public records requests and showed just how much more violence mail carriers are experiencing.
While overall robberies more than tripled, the report also found that robberies involving a gun more than quadrupled during the same time frame.
From 2018 to 2021, the number of mail carriers jumped from 80 to 261, with the number of armed robberies jumping from 36 to 154, the data showed.
This increase follows suit with violent crimes, which rose from 2019 to 2020 after seeing three straight years of decrease, according to the FBI Uniform Crime Report. However, in general, robberies were down from 2019 to 2020, according to the UCR.
There doesn't appear to be much hope for things getting better in 2022, as current numbers are on pace to pass last year's, marking the fourth straight year of increase.
An advisory from the Postal Inspection Service in early March showed just that, reporting a "significant increase of armed robberies committed against U.S. Postal Service letter carriers."
The Postal Inspection Service, which works with local police to investigate carrier robberies, shared that several things are likely behind the increase in incidents, NBC News reported.
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The economic impact of the pandemic, the increase in parcel deliveries, and stimulus checks being mailed to Americans were all cited as reasons for the high number of robberies.
"The Postal Inspection Service is engaged on multiple fronts with various partners to combat robberies and prosecute these criminals," a statement to NBC said.
The advisory from March also noted that the main reason behind the robberies was "illegal financial gains."
"In the present day, with the dark web and organized crime promoting these unlawful activities, robberies, and mail theft are becoming increasingly more attractive to criminals," The Postal Inspection Service said.
Theft surrounding mail has risen sharply in recent years, with the USPS Office of Inspector General and the Postal Inspection Service receiving almost 300,000 mail theft complaints from March 2020 to February 2021.
The same period the previous year saw 184,500 fewer complaints, an increase of 161%, according to the NBC News report.
The president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, Fredric Rolando, shared with NBC that the trend is "disturbing" and something needs to be done to protect our mail carriers.
"We will continue to work with Postal Service representatives and the Postal Inspection Service to take any steps necessary to prevent crimes from being committed against letter carriers and to improve their safety on the job," Rolando said.
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