Assaults of letter carriers on the rise

There’s a 1 in 44 chance a letter carrier will become the victim of a violent assault. That was the message the National Association of Letter Carriers and the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association wanted to get out to the public at a Sept. 5 rally at the Circle in Georgetown.

Shawn Colleran, president of the Southern Delaware NALC and the Delaware chapter vice president said, “The purpose of today is to bring awareness to the violent acts being committed against letter carriers. Unfortunately, this is a growing issue, not only within the country, but in the state, and this isn’t just an issue within the major metropolitan areas. In the last two years, we’ve had two in Wilmington, two in New Castle, one in Newark, one in Dover, one in Seaford and one in Rehoboth.”

Being federal employees, they have to seek protection on a national level. They’re looking to get HR 7629, the Protect Our Letter Carriers Act, co-sponsored by Delaware Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester, passed as quickly as possible.

“There are two main things that bill would do,” said Colleran. “First and foremost, any violent crime, burglary or act of aggression against letter carriers, it would carry the same penalty as it would if you were doing that to an officer of the law. The second thing is that it would provide judiciary assistance, as far as an assistant attorney in every single district in the country, to handle crimes against letter carriers.”

In the meantime, if anyone sees something suspicious, they are asked to report it. If anyone observes an attack, they should provide a witness statement.