Mailbox Mayhem

[gnmwilliams]

Let me begin by aksing a question. What would you do if you caught two guys looking in your mailbox at 10:30 at night?

I was letting the dog out the other night and watched two men walk right up to my mailbox, which was a good distance away from where I was, and open it and look inside. I proceeded to yell and chase them off, which the dog loved, but wasn't able to get a good look at them. I had already discovered trash stuffed in it a few weeks before so I have been keeping a close eye on it. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to secure or perhaps electrify a mailbox? JK but I'm about to that point. I've called the police and let them know but they basically said there's not much they can do but keep an eye out for it.

Edited January 8, 2010 by gnmwilliams

[Guest jackdm3]

You have to get a box that locks, but has slots big enough to fit the thickest of mail. Or a regular slot with a tube/hook for them to put a magazine in/on.

[BigPoppa]

I'd proceed with caution when it comes to electrifying stuff.

Call the Postal Inspectors, and see what they have to say. Tampering with mail receptacles is a Federal crime.

[jtluttrell]

I saw someone once put a camera nearby and caught the perp. Like a trail cam. Can you say federal offense?

[Oh Shoot]

Well, it can be both a local and federal offense, but unless you can get a good picture of them doing something with it and then approach local and/or federal postal inspector office, as jackdm3 says, about all you can do is secure the mailbox itself one way or another.

Of COURSE you can't electrify the mailbox unless you want to risk criminal/civil liabilities from both good and bad guys.

- OS

[Motasyco]

I saw someone once put a camera nearby and caught the perp. Like a trail cam. Can you say federal offense?

Exactly what I was going to say so I'll just confirm that yep, it is a federal offense.

[pitt2magic]

rattlesnake

[robin48]

rattlesnake

Oooooo way to think outside the box. I wouldn't suggest it but very creative.

[Guest clownsdd]

I'd proceed with caution when it comes to electrifying stuff.

Call the Postal Inspectors, and see what they have to say. Tampering with mail receptacles is a Federal crime.

Good advice.

[Guest jackdm3]

Your odds are good that the Feds will find the target before they get Bin Laden. So cheer up!

[Guest mikedwood]

I saw someone once put a camera nearby and caught the perp. Like a trail cam. Can you say federal offense?

I'd say a camera is the way to go. From what I can tell cameras are all the rage in Oak Ridge lately.

You sure don't want to hurt the postal person.

Better to go the Postal Inspector route than the ORPD.

Edited January 8, 2010 by mikedwood

[MacGyver]

Despite what you hear about in the news regarding big data breaches, the single most common way people have their identities stolen is through their mailbox. The second most common is through your glove box.

You likely have some local meth heads either looking to steal identities for their next fix, or worse, they're acting as mules for organized crime in return for their particular vice, and aren't smart enough to realize it.

So often when we are dealing with identity theft, it's really hard to hold a person accountable for the crime. One of the most frustrating things I see when walking into a courtroom is a victim coming in with a big stack of papers detailing everything they've had to deal with, and regardless of what happens in the courtroom, they leave a victim. More often than not, it doesn't make it that far because most local police departments don't have the skills or manpower to track the perps down, so they avoid even taking a report on something that will wind up contributing to unsolved crime statistics.

The moral of this story, is it sounds like you may have the unique opportunity to help everyone out by getting some bad guys off the street. If you get pictures with a trail cam or similar, I know some guys who would be awfully interested in busting some mules and making an example of them. Location is everything with the camera, don't put it in the mailbox, but close by with a good view would be ideal.

Good luck.

[gnmwilliams]

Sadly I am just kidding about electrifying the mailbox idea but the rattlesnake, hmmmmmm (scratches chin ominously)

[Guest Drewsett]

Trail cam is probably your best bet....but the rattlesnake would be funny!

This reminds me of when I was a kid growing up...we had these teenagers who lived down the street who would take a baseball bat to our mailbox at least 5-6 times over the course of a summer. Finally we replaced the wood pylon with a steel one, set it 3 feet deep in the ground with concrete, and then we bought a thick steel mailbox and used some scrap metal to build sort of a cage inside the box to reinforce it. Needless to say we found several broken baseball bats the following summer.

[BigPoppa]

rattlesnake

....but the rattlesnake, hmmmmmm (scratches chin ominously)

....but the rattlesnake would be funny!

I bet a harmless, non-toxic snake like a garden snake, rat snake, chicken snake, etc. would serve the same frightful purpose PLUS no chance of injury PLUS pee your pants funny video if you also did the trail cam.

[E4 No More]

Trail cam is probably your best bet....but the rattlesnake would be funny!

This reminds me of when I was a kid growing up...we had these teenagers who lived down the street who would take a baseball bat to our mailbox at least 5-6 times over the course of a summer. Finally we replaced the wood pylon with a steel one, set it 3 feet deep in the ground with concrete, and then we bought a thick steel mailbox and used some scrap metal to build sort of a cage inside the box to reinforce it. Needless to say we found several broken baseball bats the following summer.

My father-in-law did something similar to combat mailbox batting.

He made the mailbox out of mild 3/8" steel welded into a box. Then he put the arm, (it had to extend over the ditch to the street), on a swivel mount, and the mount was sunk in concrete. I got him a mailbox alarm from RadioShack so that whenever someone opens the box it sounds a buzzer in the house. He doesn't have much trouble with it now.

EDIT: Too cold for a rattlesnake to be useful!

[Guest billwilly73]

Rubber snake tied to a string tied to the mailbox door so it jumps out when opened.............................

[Guest SUNTZU]

You can do something similar to the video like billwilly suggested.

[Guest Muttling]

I'd do a couple of things.

First, have your important mail like bills sent to a PO box. They're not all that expensive.

Second, a trail cam to try to catch them. Get them on tape stealing or destroying your junk mail and let the postal service have their way with them.

[Rightwinger]

I bet a harmless, non-toxic snake like a garden snake, rat snake, chicken snake, etc. would serve the same frightful purpose PLUS no chance of injury PLUS pee your pants funny video if you also did the trail cam.

There ya go, get the DNA evidence off the ground for court!

A rubber one placed in the box well after the delivery and recovered in the morning would never interact with the postal employee but would be visible to all others opening the box after hours!

[mcurrier]

There ya go, get the DNA evidence off the ground for court!

A rubber one placed in the box well after the delivery and recovered in the morning would never interact with the postal employee but would be visible to all others opening the box after hours!

Yeah...unless you forget...the recovery...

[Volzfan]

Good luck.

I had an order of 500 checks get stolen out of the mail a few years ago. They wrote $1500 worth before I realized it and a total of almost $6k before they quit. Obviously filed a Police report and also filed a report with the Postal Inspectors.

Nothing!! I don't guess that surprised anyone.

[redneck]

Me I would use electricity , but I would use a photo cell or time clock so not to shock my mail man . I had a neighbor tell me he seen someone snooping around here about a year ago . ( I live in the sticks ) So I brought home a neon transformer ( 15,000 volts ) , wired it to my bass boat trailer . Never the less if you get within 5 foot ouch .

[Guest HexHead]

Spotlight with a motion detector might deter them. I saw a couple of mailboxes at Home Depot that looked interesting. One looked just like a regular one, but was made of rolled steel. The other was a key locking one, with one of those pull down doors that prevents anyone from putting their hand inside.

[hardknox00001]

Me I would use electricity , but I would use a photo cell or time clock so not to shock my mail man . I had a neighbor tell me he seen someone snooping around here about a year ago . ( I live in the sticks ) So I brought home a neon transformer ( 15,000 volts ) , wired it to my bass boat trailer . Never the less if you get within 5 foot ouch .

Modern day neon transformer won't work without alot of modification work to the mailbox. They are now GFI circuited and any "short" to ground turns them off immediately. Now it you have one of the old fangled ones, they only shoot out 30 milliamps............will get your attention