Moreno Valley>> This week, Moreno Valley's Acting Postmaster came to City Hall to discuss the continued frustration over theft of mail from cluster mailboxes and resulting damage which prevents the Post Office from delivering mail to boxes that can no longer be locked.
Recognizing that mail theft is on the rise throughout the region, the Post Office is taking a new approach. In areas where cluster mailboxes are not owned by Homeowner Associations, the Post Office will repair or replace damaged boxes free of charge. Older boxes just weren’t designed to resist break-in. The boxes being installed are stronger, and offer additional protection against theft.
Residents who live in neighborhoods that are not served by Homeowner Associations can call the Post Office at 951-656-9720 to request repair or replacement of damaged cluster mailboxes. The Postmaster assures us that they are working as quickly as possible to install new boxes as they are received from the manufacturer. They are able to install several boxes each day in locations throughout the City, and are doing this to correspond to the order in which requests are received.
Residents who live in a neighborhood served by a Homeowner Association, damaged boxes are replaced by the HOA. Your Association can contact the Post Office to ensure that the new Cluster Mailboxes installed by the HOA are approved by the US Postal Service.
To help residents keep track of mail items being delivered, the Post Office has launched a new service called “Informed Delivery.” If you sign up for this service, you will receive an email from the Post Office which shows mail that will be delivered to you that day.
This offers two important benefits: It alerts residents to important mail items so that you can be sure to retrieve them from your box as quickly as possible. And, in the event that you become a victim of mail theft, you’ll know which pieces of mail are missing which can assist you in contacting the sender to let them know that you didn’t receive their correspondence.
For more information about the Informed Delivery service, or to sign up online, visit the Post Office website.
The City of Moreno Valley has also installed solar lighting at a few cluster mailboxes to see if this might reduce mail theft. If this proves successful, info will be shared with residents or HOAs interested in purchasing/installing similar devices.
The Moreno Valley Police Department is working with other police agencies to identify and prosecute those responsible for mail theft. Public Safety Camera System can also prove helpful in this effort.