BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Various homeowners all over town are reporting that their mail is being stolen from neighborhood mailboxes, as police say master mailbox keys are circulating on the black market.<\/p>\n
In the neighborhoods off Old River Road in southwest Bakersfield, many people are reporting their mail is being stolen.<\/p>\n
“Our mailboxes, we can’t use them, they’ve been broken,” said Karen Knecht, who has been coming to the post office on Old River Road and Camino Media for two weeks to pick up her mail.<\/p>\n
“A lot of people have said ‘oh our mailboxes have been broken into and people have actually taken pictures,” she said.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Watch 17 News, After Sunrise and more local news free on your smart TV. Click to learn more about KGET+\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n But it’s not just in the Seven Oaks neighborhood. Natalie Salazar lives in East Bakersfield and she’s seen it, too.<\/p>\n “We have seen around the neighborhood where they’ve opened up the boxes and just snatched all the mail,” Salazar said.<\/p>\n But this isn’t a standard crowbar being used to pry open the boxes type of crime.<\/p>\n According to Bakersfield Police Department Sergeant Robert Robles, copies of mailbox master keys are floating around on the black market from past mail vehicle burglaries.<\/p>\n “Brute force break-ins happen on occasion, by and large these makeshift keys are used to open the rear master access panel that the postal workers use,” Robles said.<\/p>\n Jonathan Lanning, a postal inspector for the United States Postal Service, said inspectors are actively working on Bakersfield mail theft cases.<\/p>\n When a mail theft is reported, it becomes a federal crime, the USPS investigates it.<\/p>\n “We have seen an increase of mail theft that has occurred, basically it’s been on the rise since 2020,” Lanning said.<\/p>\n Officials said the number one thing people can do to protect their mail is to pick it up daily.<\/p>\n Other ways to protect mail is if you’re going to be gone for a few days to freeze mail while you’re gone and resume when you come back. They also recommend signing up for informed delivery when you have financial mail.<\/p>\n However, these thefts keep happening.<\/p>\n “Video surveillance is very helpful,” Lanning said.<\/p>\n You can submit a report by going online here<\/a>.<\/p>\n