Submitted by Ron Nelson.
I live on Gravelly Lk Dr just past Grey Stone. Last Friday as I drove down our driveway all six of my neighbor’s mailboxes, mine included had been forced opened the night before. I drove down Gravelly Lake Drive toward Veterans Drive and every mailbox had been pried open along the way. I have heard this has been happening all over Lakewood.
My advice to everyone is to make sure you take you mail in before night fall.
Thank you for sharing this concern and giving wise advise to retrieve your mail before nightfall. Locked mailboxes have recently been targeted on many different roads in Lakewood. Ours was smashed open just a few nights ago as were many others in our neighborhood.
Time for all to get P.O. back at your local post office. This has become rediculous
As a former police officer and rental property owner, I strongly support Mr Ron Nelson’s excellent crime avoidance suggestion to remove any contents from your mailbox daily.
I encourage everyone to think in terms of target hardening.
A non-locking standard mailbox is the weakest, easiest, and largest target for crime. If you are comfortable with a standard non-locking mailbox, you should feel comfortable leaving your purse or wallet on the sidewalk in front of your home.
The next level of target hardening would be to keep your purse and wallet inside your house and out of view for any smash-and-grab trespasser who may look through your windows looking for your purse or wallet..
Additionally, installing any brand of locking mailbox, even a cheap locking mailbox is better than no lock at all.
While I admit that I am not a staff member at Consumer Reports, my product analysis and research taught me there are two levels of locking mailboxes, ineffective cheap boxes and effective quality boxers. Quality locking mailboxes, while not impossible to break into, are tough for the criminal element to defeat.
The standard product available everywhere is what I refer to as a “pretend locking security mailbox”. The ineffective design and poor materials are able to keep lazy criminals away from the mail, but any evildoer with a screwdriver can pry open this low-quality “not so secure mailbox in a New York second.
A superior quality mailbox will cost more, but they provide more real security. My recommendation is the Mail Boss brand. I have purchased two Mail Boss Package Master mailboxes for my last two homes. I purchased two more for two neighbors. These boxes handle lots of mail and small packages. The prices run in the general marketplace for something like $110, $202, $281, and $302 depending on style and color.
There are various vendors where you can shop for and research my suggested product., but I recommend you start with the City of Lakewood’s own small family-owned business known as Lakewood Hardware. Address: 9020 Lakewood Drive SW, Lakewood, WA 98499. Phone: 253-581-1010. Ask for Skip and tell him Joe sent “ya”.
During my 54-year relationship with this hardware store, starting with the business founders, I have found the owners and staff to be honest and helpful.
I just confirmed that Skip has Mail Boss products in stock and he can order any model or color if you would prefer something he does not have on his shelf.
DISCLOSURE: I have no information regarding what kind or quality of mailboxes were pried open as described by Mr Nelson.
DISCLOSURE: There are no guarantees in life, but the Mail Boss will put up a strong fight against any goofball with a screwdriver.
Joseph Boyle – Philosophy = Criminals can steal my stuff, but by golly, I am going to make them work for it. I have no idea how many thieves have cast a covetous eye on my material possessions, but because of my target hardening decided a softer target down the street would be eaiser.
What if the mail is not delivered until 630 pm or later, which is dark?
We have a locked box, but issue is still important to know.
And if they catch the guy, then what?
Probably not much.
Same thing happened all along Hipkins Road and Lake Steilacoom Drive on Saturday night. Obviously use of a crowbar to crack open some but not all locked boxes were attached. Scattered junk mail around neighborhood.
Had this happen a few years ago before I got a locked box. They stole mail to include a tenant’s rental check. They attempted to erase my name in blue ink as “payee” and wrote over it with their real name using a black Sharpie marker (!), and when cashing at the local American Express branch, used their real home address and license number while the transaction was photographed! Yes the bank cashed it!!! The perp was arrested but wasn’t the one who stole the checks. Apparently a gang steals the checks and sells them at a discount of face value to others who take the risk in cashing them. The thieves avoid detection and their customers go to jail.
Well this time around a little banging and welding and pop riveting and my locked box is as good as new: a personal “in your face bast*rd!” which made me feel better about it. BTW: there wasn’t any mail in it. I clean it out every afternoon.
Mail theft has been happening since time immemorial. Rather than spend tons of money on Fort Knox equivalent mail boxes, just rent a post office box. First class mail is in the box usually by 10:00 am, and the chances of your mail being stolen is pretty slim to nonexistent.
Dave Hall,
Remember me? You and I both have ideas about mail theft and I say both of us have ideas that warrant careful consideration.
When I was in the rental business, I had a post office box for decades. Later I transferred to a private mailbox which gave me a more legitimate sounding / impressive address and more flexibility. My first off-site private mailbox boasted of an address of something like 10507 Gravelly Lake Drive SW. My renters could either mail or personally drop off their rental checks. Not only did this make my rental checks safer, but it also kept all kinds of people off my front door welcome mat, especially those who were not welcome.
The other advantage of a private mailbox was I could leave items like rental keys, documents or anything that would fit into the box. In reverse, renters could drop off items for me.
Now that I am no longer a landlord, nor a police officer, I find it most convenient to have my mail delivered to my Fort Knox calibre mailbox. I use the money I save by not renting an off-site mailbox to pay for my Fort Knox mailbox conveniently located in front of my home. Once my Mail Boss high-security mailbox is paid for, I use the money I save on monthly private mailbox rent to make down payments on adult espresso beverages like at The Town of Steilacoom’s Topside Coffee Cabin (Free plug from a former loyal customer.)
Both your idea and my idea can be advantageous depending on the circumstances of the citizen contemplating his or her alternatives and where they are in life.
Always fun to debate topics with Dave Hall.
Joseph Boyle
Here in bucolic Steilacoom, the residential mail delivery is inconsistently timed, so the letter carrier may drive by at 2 pm or 8 pm, whereas our PO Box at the US Post Office in Steilacoom is almost always full of envelopes (yeah, mostly bills)and periodicals just after 10 am. So my Spousal Unit and I get to enjoy the unparalleled combination of consistency and security, which we old retired coppers value. (Plus we can deduct the PO Box fee from our Federal Income Taxes, another bonus!) And as a professional caddie who drives to and from Chambers Bay at least five times per week (yes, I know I’m failing retirement, but I love this career!), it’s very convenient to swing by the Post Office on the way home. Sadly, even the high-security neighborhood mailboxes in low-crime Steilacoom have been pried open in the wee small hours of the morning, when the miscreants are doing their dastardly deeds, thanks to YouTube videos providing technical advice.
But regardless of where we may stand on this subject, there’s no disagreement that continuing our long-running philosophical conversations is a rare pleasure!
Sl’ainte, Joseph!
The post office boxes are more secure, but they come at a price; a price which keeps rising each year, and far surpassing the annual inflation rate.
I started renting the smallest box (5″ x 5″) in 2014 for $98 (annual) in DuPont. Since then the cost for the same box has risen to $212 for the year 2023 (116% increase?). This is definitely far above the inflation rate during the same time period.
I have written to our state senators about it, citing the price increases for each year. I’ve never gotten any reply and am not surprised since it is of no concern to them personally. They get free mail security at the cost to the taxpayers.
Maybe IDNK but is mail thief a Federal crime? A felony? A misdemeanor? I mean those stealing dont care cuz it has no repercussions. But who do I complain to for better policing? Maybe I need to install an alarm to my mail box that goes off when opened? Like a door or window alarm that goes off inside my house. Anyone ever tried that?