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ST. JOHN’S, N.L. —
The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary is investigating a rash of community mailbox break-ins in several communities within its jurisdiction over the last month.
“We are upping patrols in the areas of community mailboxes,” RNC spokesman Cont. James Cadigan told The Telegram Wednesday.
“It’s certainly, definitely more prevalent in the past few weeks than usual.”
Residents are being asked to report suspicious people or activity in their neighbourhoods.
Cadigan could not say what’s being stolen or what the perpetrators are using to break into the boxes.
He said it’s going to take a community effort to bust the case as with any other property crime, police rely on tips and reports from the public.
Canada Post said it has had no reports or issues regarding whether special ballots are involved in the thefts.
“We can confirm that there were some incidents of community mailbox vandalism in the St. John’s area and in adjacent communities over the last four weeks. Individual mail compartments were not impacted, but some larger compartments for parcels were impacted,” spokeswoman Valérie Chartrand said.
“We take these matters and the security of the mail very seriously.” — Valérie Chartrand, Canada Post
“We are working to repair the affected parcel compartments as soon as possible. We take these matters and the security of the mail very seriously.”
Postal Inspectors are working in collaboration with the RNC on the case, she said.
“When these types of incidents occur, we ask customers who believe they have not received a specific piece of mail to contact the sender. Customers who have not received an expected parcel should inform the sender, who then works with Canada Post. We encourage customers to check their mailbox regularly,” Chartrand said.
Elections Newfoundland and Labrador told The Telegram it hasn’t received any complaints or concerns from electors resulting from these break-ins.
“We have no reason to be concerned at this point in time. If an elector contacts us and believes that their kit is missing because their community mailbox had a break in, we will check our system to verify that a kit was, in fact, mailed out to them. We will address any issues that arise on a case by case basis,” a statement from Elections NL said.
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