AUSTIN, Texas — More mail thieves are targeting Austin-area neighborhoods.
A southwest Austin neighborhood has been hit almost daily, and residents tell the KVUE Defenders that the United States Postal Service (USPS) hasn't done much to stop it.
Not one, two or three, but four different thefts in the neighborhood have all been caught on camera.
"I'd say the frequency of thefts continues to increase with kind of the access of these arrow keys being available," said Stuart, a local Austin HOA president.
Stuart has requested that his last name and neighborhood identities be withheld out of fear of continued thefts. He said they're continuously happening.
"Packages, other sensitive mail as far as, you know, driver's licenses, checks, credit cards. And it's a real concern," Stuart said.
Cluster mailboxes are pretty common across Austin and across many communities. The issue with mailboxes like these is that a master key can open one mailbox in the middle of a cluster, which in turn makes the entire system accessible.
That's the problem Stuart believes is happening in his neighborhood. He believes thieves have access to a master key, also known as an arrow key.
"[They can] quickly gain access, empty the mailboxes, get in their vehicle, whether that's a motorcycle or a stolen vehicle and ... take off," Stuart said.
It's a massive issue for the USPS.
"The unauthorized possession of a postal key or a reproduction of that key is a federal felony. And it is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and substantial fines," said Silvia Torres, a U.S. Postal inspector.
Torres works as an inspector here in Texas. She said crimes like these are serious, citing the recent federal indictments by the U.S. Attorney's Office of two people who stole mailbox keys from Austin postal workers and assaulted them.
"Every letter carrier deserves to work their route in peace and safety. And we hope that this sends the message that we are not going to stop investigating these crimes and we will find you," Torres said.
But the question remains: What is being done about these locks and their keys? The KVUE Defenders asked and Torres directed us back to the local post office, which told us, "With regards to the keys, the specific details you seek are not available."
However, KVUE discovered a 2020 audit by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) which found, "The Postal Service's management controls over arrow keys were ineffective." The OIG also found, "The number of arrow keys in circulation, lost, stolen, and broken nationwide is not known, but the Postal Service estimates the number to be in the millions."
Victims like Stuart say USPS should be using more secure and modern means.
"If you can use magnetic kind of keys, the type of keying system that they're using for these drop off boxes now within Austin, that would be an excellent solution," Stuart said.
Torres said a solution is already in the works.
"They're working on changing the technology of the locks. They're going to there's about 49,000 electronic locks, which will replace traditional locks, and this will devalue that postal key," Torres said.
Both said that when it comes to videos like these, it's extremely unnerving and an issue that continues to plague the U.S.