Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Congressman Tim Kennedy is mad and has had enough.
Kennedy (D-Buffalo) is pushing for the federal "Protect Our Letter Carriers" act that would increase penalties for anyone arrested for assaulting a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier.
Kennedy said his efforts have been ratcheted up after recent reports of at least five local attacks on mail carriers. The alleged assailants were going after the carrier's arrow keys that open mailboxes and collection boxes.
"These mail carriers are just out there doing their job," Kennedy said. "They shouldn't have to worry about being attacked."
WGRZ reported that since early November, postal carriers across Western New York have faced a string of violent attacks. And they were targeted crimes, not random.
In one case in Buffalo, a masked men "jumped a mail carrier from behind, put him in a chokehold, and ripped away the carrier's satchel containing an arrow key, which is the master key that opens blue collection boxes.
Two other mail carriers were robbed at gunpoint on back-to-back days in Buffalo.
"In Niagara Falls, police say another carrier was approached by a masked man demanding the key with one hand in his pocket, possibly holding what police believe was a weapon."
But, the attacks are happening - not only in the Buffalo-Niagara region but across the country.
That's why mail carrier unions and other supporters are pushing for switching from the arrow keys to electronic locks to make the mail carriers less vulnerable. Arrow keys are universal master keys that open mail receptacles within a specific zip code. Robbing a carrier of one, gives a thief access to package drop-offs and pick-ups and more.
There is a bi-partisan and groundswell push for the Protect Our Letter Carriers Act. "It's difficult because, you know, we get those calls that, you know, there's an assault or a robbery. Then, as the President, I'm usually following up with them after the fact, because unfortunately, a lot of times with these things, not only is an issue, you know, criminally, for example, but it's also initial, health and safety wise. Carriers have physical injuries. Carriers have mental injuries," David J. Grosskopf Jr., the president for the National Association of Letter Carriers, Branch 3 Buffalo/Western New York, told local media.
Kennedy added: "These are despicable crimes."