Postal workers robbed in Milwaukee; safety concerns raised again
Milwaukee postal workers safety concerns
Two Milwaukee postal workers were robbed. It has again raised safety concerns regarding letter carriers in the city.
MILWAUKEE - Four people are in Milwaukee police custody after allegedly robbing two postal workers at gun point Monday.
At last check, the two postal workers are OK, but the incident has again raised safety concerns in the postal service community. Safety has been an ongoing conversation since Aundre Cross was killed while delivering mail last year.
With this most recent incident, the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) said more people need to get involved in order to ensure carrier safety – especially ahead of the busy holiday season.
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"Letter carriers obviously are becoming anxious," said Tom Dahl, vice president of NALC Branch 2. "I don’t remember this being a concern when I started out as a letter carrier in Milwaukee."
Dahl worked as a mail carrier for 24 years before becoming an NALC vice president.
National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC)
"When our carriers are out serving the public and being a fabric of the community, the last thing they should have to worry about is returning home to their families safely at the end of their work day," he said.
Milwaukee police said two postal workers were robbed at gun point Monday morning. It's a trend Dahl said has become too common.
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"Right now, I’m sure there’s a lot of anxious letter carriers out there just having the feeling, ‘This could happen to me,'" he said. "Right now is about putting attention on that and seeing what we can do to stop it."
Dahl said the next step to ensuring carrier safety is to get a bigger conversation started "not only from postal management and the union working together, but it’s time now: Communities and city officials and the police department need to become more involved."
In your own neighborhood, Dahl said to look out for suspicious activity and keep your lights on for the carriers delivering mail during darker hours.