This brown community mailbox located near the intersection of Ross Glen Drive and Turner Drive, and several others like it, have been the target of thieves who have damaged the boxes and continue to steal mail. Canada Post is asking residents from these boxes to pick up their mail from the office along Kipling Street SE. as police continue their investigation.--NEWS PHOTO BRENDAN MILLER
bmiller@medicinehatnews.com
Medicine Hat police say they have strong leads as they continue an investigation into a string of mailbox thefts that have been reported in South Ridge and Ross Glen.
Police say thieves have been stealing mail from older style community mail boxes that have a brown exterior and have been broken or damaged.
Canada Post has confirmed that no newer mail boxes that have the grey exterior have been targeted by thieves.
Police say they take mail thefts seriously because it can lead to a series of secondary charges involving identity theft.
“We treat it very seriously,” says Insp. Brent Secondiak. “Because people’s personal information, money, valuables sentimental items can be stolen. So it’s a serious offence to us and oftentimes it’s treated that way at court.”
However, police say they have a strong lead in their investigation and are hoping to resolve the issue shortly.
“It can lead to frauds and other secondary offences, so very concerning,” says Secondiak. “We’re fortunate in this case that we have suspects and a suspect location. So we’re working on it diligently and hopefully it’ll come to a conclusion in the near future.”
Canada Post has put clear packing tape on affected broken mailboxes with a notification to residents there is a mail delivery problem report sighting they are having difficulties delivering mail due to a dangerous mail box and unsafe access to the mailbox.
Orville Studer told News he has been directed to pick up his mail from the Canada Post centre on Kipling Street after receiving information of the thefts.
“There’s a taped-up sign saying that the box had been vandalized,” says Studer. “I don’t know what ones, I opened mine and it worked.”
Canada Post says they are working quickly to repair the damaged mailboxes and provided the News the following statement.
“Canada Post takes the security of mail and the service it provides to Canadians very seriously,” explains Janick Cormier, media relations with Canada Post. “We work quickly to repair damaged equipment and work closely with local law enforcement if we are experiencing vandalism or other issues.
“Customers who have issues with their community mailbox should contact Canada Post’s Customer Service team by telephone at 1-866-607-6301 so that we can investigate and resolve the matter quickly.”
Police say they will continue to work with Canada Post and their security team to connect with all victims of mail theft and continue to work to resolve the ongoing thefts.
“It does take some time for us, because of course, there’s not identifiable victim information on the outside of mailboxes,” it’s always on the inside,” explains Secondiak. “You have to work with Canada Post to find out who the victims are.”
Police are expecting to release more details once the investigation has concluded.
