I. Mail Theft: A Legislative Proposal

Theft of mail is a crime reaching epidemic proportions in our state, rising 60% in 1998 compared to 1997. Mail thieves are after the personal financial information of victims, including personal checks, credit cards, credit card numbers, credit applications, bank statements and valid identification, which can be falsified. For the criminal, the mail box is a gateway to financial fraud, limited only by imagination and audacity. Victims are left with emptied bank accounts and shattered credit ratings. Local law enforcement agencies are left with only misdemeanor theft charges to pursue on the rare occasion that mail thieves are caught.

II. A Skyrocketing Trend

Victims of mail theft may not know that their incoming or outgoing mail has been intercepted, so the reported incidents probably underestimate the problem. Even so, during the time when the overall crime rate has dropped by more than 5%, reported mail theft has grown dramatically, suggesting that criminals have found a new way to steal.

According to the United States Postal Inspection Service, there were 7,029 mail thefts reported in 1997. In 1998, that number jumped to 10,574 - an increase of 66%.

U.S. Postal Inspection Service arrests of mail thieves show a similar trend. In fiscal year (Oct. 1 through Sept. 30) 1997 there were 25 arrests. The following year, FY 1998, there were 29. In the first four months of FY 1999, there have been 72 arrests. There have been more arrests of mail thieves in the last four months than in the entire two preceding years combined.

III. How Thieves Steal Mail

One prime target is the residential curbside mail box, where thieves can simply follow the Postal truck through the neighborhood and retrieve what has been delivered. Thieves also steal outgoing mail, particularly personal checks made out to pay bills.

Apartment and condominium complexes are also easy targets for thieves, who make counterfeit mail box keys and steal large volumes of mail at one time.

Even the venerable "blue boxes" bolted on the street for mail collection have not been immune. In response to a large scale theft of mail accomplished by use of a counterfeit key, the U.S. Postal Service spent more than $2 million to replace 3,500 blue boxes between Everett and Tacoma. Just as that effort was completed, thieves in the Seattle neighborhoods of Ballard, Wallingford and Ravenna literally ripped four blue boxes off of their concrete moorings and drove off with them in the back of a car. Five blue boxes were stolen off the streets of Tacoma between August and November 1998.

IV. The Value of Stolen Mail to the Criminal

To sophisticated criminals, stolen mail has the potential to be extremely valuable. Stolen checks are chemically "washed" of their ink, so the thief can make out a new amount and a new payee. For the more ambitious and technically proficient thief, computer software is widely available to allow the creation of dozens of professional-looking checks with the victim's bank account number reproduced at the bottom. Before the victim even knows that the check they put in the mail was intercepted, their account can be emptied.

Mailboxes also hold important personal financial data, such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, birth dates, addresses, and bank statements. This information can be used to make purchases over the telephone or Internet, apply for new lines of credit under a false name, and make withdrawls from the bank. v The potential value of personal financial data sitting in a mailbox has made the crime too lucrative for criminals to resist, especially when the chances of being caught, convicted, and punished are remote.

V. The Value of Stolen Mail Under State Law

There is no state law specifically prohibiting the theft of mail or possession of stolen mail. These cases have historically fallen within the general federal jurisdiction of the United States Postal Inspector and the United States Attorney. The extent of the crime has far outstripped the capacity of federal law enforcement.

When police do arrest a suspect with quantities of stolen mail, they are left to deal with state theft statutes, which are based on the value of the mail as paper, instead of reflecting the potential value of the victim's financial information to the crook. That means these cases, when they are prosecuted, are misdemeanor theft in the third degree cases. The low return on the sentence for mail theft acts as a disincentive for law enforcement to spend resources to investigate these crimes.

VI. Current Federal Law

Federal law currently covers theft of mail and possession of stolen mail: Title 18 Section 1708 Theft or receipt of stolen mail generally: Whoever steals, takes, or abstracts, or by fraud or deception obtains, or attempts so to obtain, from or out of any mail, post office, or station thereof, letter box, mail receptacle, or any mail route or authorized depository for mail matter, or from a letter or mail carrier, any letter, postal card, package, bag, or mail, or abstracts or removes from any such letter, package, bag, or mail, any article or thing contained therein, or secretes, embezzles, or destroys any such letter, postal card, package, bag, or mail, or thing contained therein... Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years.

Other federal statutes outlaw the obstruction of the delivery of mail, mail box destruction or damage, and possession or manufacturing of stolen/counterfeit postal keys.

Under the federal regulations, the Postal Inspector is responsible for investigating the crimes involving mail theft and interference with the mail and counterfeit keys (see 39 CFR, Sections 224.3 and 233.1).

VII. The Need for a State Statute

Our main concern to is protect victims and deter mail thieves. The best way to do that is to have a specific state statute making it a felony to steal another person's mail , or be in possession of stolen mail. Working cooperatively with federal law enforcement agencies, we can ensure that each case receives the level of attention it deserves.

Neither rain, nor sleet, nor dark of night should deter us from pursuing those criminals who want to steal the mail - all we need is a statute.

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Jan. 26, 1999