I live in a small town. I have a very strong suspicion that our mail has been getting stolen for the last week. We haven't had one single piece of mail since last Friday, and we NEVER go a day without getting something. I've contacted the post office but it will be a day or 2 before they can talk to our carrier to see if there has been any deliveries. One important package from a summer camp should have arrived Tuesday, but it still isn't here.
I do have a suspicion of who might be motivated to do such a thing, but no proof. I will be setting up a video monitoring today of my mail box so that if there is a real problem i can get proof.
Here's my question to you: What would you do if you caught someone doing this to you? Would you call the cops since it's a federal crime? If it were a 10-12 year old child, would you contact the parents first? What if it was a child who was doing this as a form of bullying toward your child (you know, similar to vandelism?) What if you found out it was the child or grandchild of a person that works for you?
Sorry to take so long to respond, but it took a while to figure out what was going on. Turns out it was the substitute mail carrier! He hadn't delivered mail to most houses for 4 days! The day after I called the post office, and was told there was a substitute carrier, our mail all arrived the next day. Including flyers that normally come out on Tuesdays. Havent' had a missed day since then.
As for those of you who question why I would suspect this was a form of bullying against my child, it's hard to explain but I will try. My son has some severe development issues, not bad enough yet to keep him out of main stream schooling, but enough after 6 years of public school to become a real target of extreme bullying. If he'd been labled as "Autistic", he would be protected in vain by his school and classmates (we have several falling into this category and they could murder the mayor and still be protected.) My son hasn't been 'categorized' yet. But we've already had multiple instances of kids collaberating to steal from him/us to the point it's scary to see how organized they are. My son lacks the ability to see bad in people. He easily could be talked into taking everything of vaule in our house and giving it to these kids, and would never understand it's wrong. We are aware of this. The school is aware of this. But not his peer's parents. This kids go out of their way to be cruel to him. Yes, we are looking at moving and keeping him home schooled until we can get a better diagnosis of what all his issues are. But until then, we unfortunatley have to be on a constant lookout of who might be trying to mess with him. Football program notices were going out that week, and just about the whole team has stated they don't want him playing at one point or another, though they know football is his passion. I would not put it past half of them to steal our notice so he doesn't get signed up.
I know this may sound a bit far-fetched, but we've been living it for 7 years now and it keeps getting worse. If a kid were ever more in need of a fresh start, it's our son. But making that move too son will not do any good. He needs help first.
If its a child, talk to the parents first. If they dont fall all over themselves with apologies and ways to make things right immediately, call the cops. If its an adult, calll the cops straight away.
If I found out someone, anyone, were stealing my mail and I had proof such as video and the post office confirming that they've been delivering it but I haven't been receiving my packages, I would report it to the police. I would hand over the evidence. If it were a child I would let the police handle it and hopefully retrieve the mail and packages.
It will have much more of an effect on whoever it is if the police show up on their doorstep rather than the nice lady down the street who is apologizing for the intrusion while she seethes inside as the person who did it denies it in spite of the evidence.
I would still call the cops!
Yes I'd call the cops!
It might be a childish prank but it could also be identity theft, stealing of checks, packages, credit cards, etc.
How do you know if it's only happening to you?
It's a federal crime for a very good reason.
Messing with the mail is a serious offense.
The permanent fix is to get your mail delivered to a PO box and then you go pick up your mail from that secure delivery point.
I hope they catch who ever it is and throw the book at them.
I'd have the police handle it. You never know how parents will treat you, or if they would make up an altercation between you and them in order to try to divert attention from the real culprit - their child.
The only way to teach these kids a lesson is to put the fear of God in them - the police will do that.
The stuff is probably stashed in their closet or under the bed...
Dawn
If you believe it's a child, contact the parents and let them know that the very next day your mail is missing, you will be calling the police. This is a federal offense and not to be taken lightly.
Go to your post office - it is a federal offense and if it's a kid the kid probably doesn't have a clue. We have some nieghbors who would be capable of this - so I don't doubt anything these days. Our mail isn't deliverd until about 3:30 and I'm generally just getting home from work around that time - so that's probably the only reason it hasn't been tried by my psycho neighbors.
Talk to your mail carrier - he or she will know if they put anything in your mailbox - particularly a package. Locking mailboxes are made that have a slot for letters and a drop for packages.. They are not cheap - but it's something to consider for the future.
As for calling the neighbors - if you are going to do that I would suggest you use the following approach - We were told a package was sent to us more than a week ago and should have arrived by now - was it delivered to your home in error? Anythign else will be perceived as susoicion against their child.
A realted story - a few years ago our neighbor's bank statement was in our mail - it was from the same bank we used at that time. (not the psycho neighbors - a different family). We didn't even look at the addressee and opened it by mistake. Oooops! His young wife had died of cancer the year before and there had been a massive community & work fundraiser to help them pay medical bills. The bank statment showed a balance of hundreds of thousands of dollars - which was a complete shock since we still thought it was our statement. It's been a few years now, he's remarried, she stopped working, they now drive expensive cars, just had their kitchen redone (high-end) and kids from both prior marriages go to all kinds of pricey camps & dance/sports lessons. I wish I had never seen the bank statement becuase now I find myself making all these judgements about them that I wouldn't otherwise. I know his late wife would ahve LOVED to be home with her kids and drive a nice car and cook in a gorgeous kitchen. But once the envelope was opened we destroyed it since we felt REALLY awkward at that point giving him his opened statement showing how much money they had been given. It also impacts how I feel now about fundraisers for others. I now have a jaundiced view of these charity dinners for a specific person - I'd much rather give to the wounded warrior foundation, a homeless shelter or the Salvation Army.
Ideally you would catch the kid in the act (let's face it, you know who is doing this and it's a kid who is related to someone who works for you and who is bullying your child -- right?). But that may not be possible if you work and/or if the mailbox is on a post by the street and not on the house, next to the front door. If it's on the house you will have an easier time seeing someone walk up and snag the mail but if it's by the street -- that's tougher.
I think the video monitoring is a good idea. If it is the child you suspect, then you can show the video to the parents -- do it the same day you record it, if you can -- and say that you do not want to give their kid a record with the police, so you're informing the parents first. Then say that if any more mail disappears you will call both the police and the postal inspection service, which takes mail theft seriously. The kid likely has no idea this is a crime that will cause real trouble with the law; most kids don't understand that vandalism and this kind of theft are truly illegal and would get them a juvenile court visit if you pressed charges. I'd use the video to give the kid's parents a chance to deal with it, but if they do not do so, I would follow through immediately with the cops and inspectors.
I would tell the parents with as much kindness as I could muster (assuming the best of them, and that they don't know at all what's going on), that with identity theft issues, you must pursue this if they can't stop it immediately, and you would also like them to find out where your mail is stashed or whether it has been dumped. If dumped, it could find its way into anyone's hands. And let them know that if this behavior stops and then starts up again, you will still be videotaping everything and will go directly to the police the next time rather than stopping to inform the parents first.
After you call the cops, call the U.S. Postal Service. Make sure you report this to the Postal Inspectors. They are the ones who handle stolen mail. Mail fraud is a serious crime. If this person is caught (if it is an adult), the penalty will probably be worse than if this person had broken into your house and stolen valuables.
If you can get a tracking number for the package from summer camp, then you will know whether or not it should have been delivered to your house.
Meanwhile, do you know what time the mail is delivered to your house? If so, wait for the mailman/woman and ask her if you have received any mail in the last week.
If you are indeed missing mail deliveries, contact the parents of the child in question. (After you try setting up video surveillance.) Let them know that you have contacted the authorities and let them give their child a chance to cough up your mail. I would let this child suffer whatever consequences are appropriate, even if it is the child of a friend/co-worker. It is still theft. Good luck!
Up to you whether you want to work with the parents of the child first. But if you decide that you want to involve the authorities, please call the United States Postal Service and tell them. Call 1-800-ASK-USPS and tell the agent you speak to that you want to file a "mail theft" complaint. The USPS takes these sorts of complaints VERY seriously, and your issue will be immediately forwarded to the Postal Inspection Service - the group that has jurisdiction over mail crimes.
If you call the Police, they will simply notify the Inspection Service since it's a federal crime.
(also - if it was me, I think I'd contact the parents first. If they take care of the problem and the bullying and mail theft stops, that might be all for me. But if they don't take you seriously or the mail theft doesn't stop, I'd call the USPS)
If its a child doing it, I would not involve the police - call the parents and sort things out.
However, if it is an adult, I would call the police and your bank/credit card company and close out all cards.
A few years ago we found out our neighbor had stolen our identities and several other neighbors identities through mail fraud.
I wouldn't call the cops in any circumstance.
If it was a child, then yes, I would contact their parent - first! And, make sure they understood the severity of this crime.
If it continued, or if it was an adult in the first place, I would contact the Post Office.
wat would you want done if it was your kid doing it? i wouldn't want something that could be life long on a kids record J. because they are making bad choices. I'd contact the parents and then if it continued the police.
One time our water bill was delivered in error to our neighbors across the street who chose to sit on the bill for days without returning it to the post office. I was out of town dealing with a family health matter in another state and would never have dreamt this type of situation would have happened because my husband was home! Lights on, dog walking, people saw him during the day and at night.
When the neighbor finally decided to hand the bill over, the water bill was way, way overdue! My husband had to hand walk it through to be paid because we were on the verge of having our water shut off completely!
Was I angry??? Two guesses, but I never thought this could have been a crimminal act and my husband didn't think about it in that manner but chose to believe that it was truly an oversight.
Stealing mail is a federal crime as far as I know but having the rules being enforced can be a whole other matter to prove or disprove that a violation happened.
Children do outrageous pranks without thinking. I hope your situation gets resolved and your items returned and unopened soon.
Once you find out if there was mail being delivered, then you will know if there is something to worry about. Not knowing what kind of information they can get from your mail I would replace the box with one that is more secure. I don't know what is out there because we have a post office box, no home delivery in our area. If nothing else, can you move the box up close to the front door which will deter a lot of the thiefs. If it is the kid and you get proof of it, take it to his parents first, if it happens a second time take it to the cops. My guess if you talk to this person's parents they will want to stop the behavior since they are employed by you and wouldn't want harsh feelings interfering on the job. Just make sure there is proof.
If mail is being stolen, yes you should report it. That is how a lot of identity thieves get their information.
It sounds like you have things going on for you to think it is a kid trying to bully your kid. I don't see how a kid stealing my mail could bully my GD but you know what your situation is. The assumption that it's a kid bullying your kid is pretty far fetched to me.
