Surge in Mail Thefts Across Town
curb-side locking mailbox photo from Solar Group on Amazon.com
The City of Dublin, CA, is seeing a significant increase in mail thefts recently. According to Dublin Police Services, initial reports concentrated in the North Dublin Ranch area on the eastern end of town, where outgoing as well as incoming mail was being stolen. A witness to one of the mail thefts in the North Dublin Ranch area described the suspect as a black male adult wearing a black t-shirt, blue jeans, and a black baseball cap. The suspect was seen driving a red vehicle with orange spoiler.
Another report from January 13th, 2010, indicated theft was also occurring on the west end of town, with the most recent incident taking place on Rolling Hills Circle. A witness from this case described the suspect as a clean-shaven, 5-ft-9-in black male adult with a medium complexion and a short afro in his mid-twenties. The suspect was seen driving a white car.
wall-mounted mailbox photo from Amazon.com
Dublin Police Services recommends that residents should refrain from placing outgoing mail in their mailbox for pick-up by a postal worker. Instead, outgoing mail should be dropped off at a U.S. Post Office. If feasible, residents should consider replacing their curbside mailbox with a lockable one or a doorway wall-mounted one. In either case, residents will need to contact the local post office or, if applicable, their homeowners’ association (HOA) for approval beforehand. Residents can also consider leasing a post office box.
In the meantime, residents should remain vigilant and report suspicious people, vehicles, and situations to Dublin Police Services. In an emergency, the number to dial 9-1-1 from a landline and (925) 462-1212 from a cell phone. To reach Dublin Police Services for non-emergency items, the number to dial is (925) 462-1212. To get a hold of the Crime Prevention Unit, the number to dial is (925) 833-6670.
10:28 PM on January 16th, 2010
Hope this is not the Oaklandization of Dublin as quite a few people mentioned on this blog earlier.
11:18 PM on January 16th, 2010
I understand your concern. There is a big difference: The thefts/burglaries in Oakland are committed mostly by Oakland residents, whereas most of thefts/burglaries in Dublin are committed by non-Dublin residents. But the tricky thing is how we can prevent these non-Dublin residents from messing around in our community.
11:37 PM on January 16th, 2010
Dublin is a very safe city – has been since we moved here in 2000. You are unlikely to see “another boring day in Dublin when no bad things happened” on Around Dublin (or any website) – doesn’t drive much site traffic.
Unfortunately there are low risk crimes (for the criminal) like mail theft that are hard to stop. In this case – like others I’ve seen in Dublin – observant and engaged residents quickly communicate, share information and do the right thing (meaning – they call the police when their instincts tell them to do so). There is a decent profile of the suspect provided by Dublin Police Services that has circulated Dublin resident Facebook pages in recent days.
Related to this topic – Dublin residents should know that soliciting door-to-door in Dublin requires a permit from the City… so if someone comes to your door you can either (a) challenge them to produce the permit before opening the door and call the police if they don’t or (b) don’t open the door at all and just call the police (because the odds are high they won’t have a permit so why take the risk?). I’m not talking about our local Girl Scouts selling cookies but rather the drive-in solicitors from other cities that, unfortunately, see Dublin residents as a tempting target.
The police will usually arrive in <10 minutes (our experience), challenge the solicitor to show a permit and then follow them out of Dublin when they inevitably don't.
If you see anything suspicious always call the police – nothing bad comes from trusting your instincts. As noted above, use (925) 462-1212 to contact the police unless it is truly a 9-1-1 emergency.
10:22 AM on January 17th, 2010
We have lived in Dublin since July 2000, and until this year, we thought our neighborhood in North Dublin Ranch was very safe. Our home was burglarized last April. I now see from Crime Reports.com that there is at least one home burglary in our neighborhood each month. And the week before Christmas, I walked past my front window to find three police officers arresting a burglar on my front lawn. My parents have lived in Pleasanton (right near a freeway offramp) for 30 years and have never had these problems. I now have industrial strength locks on my doors. I turn the house alarm on around the clock. And I have to lock my mailbox (which still doesn’t protect my packages). My neighborhood is definitely not safe anymore.
11:06 AM on January 17th, 2010
I see increasing crimes in San Ramon too…I guess burglars are going after well-established homes around tri-valley area.
11:27 AM on January 17th, 2010
I heard San Ramon has increasing burglaries too. All well-established homes are being targeted by burglars…it’s not limited to Dublin.
1:51 PM on January 17th, 2010
Has anyone checked with Dublin Ranch HOA if we can install a lockable box? These thefts are becoming ridiculous. Maybe Dublin police should get off their butt going back and forth Dublin Blvd non-stop and show a real presence.
10:44 AM on January 19th, 2010
Yes, HOA send a mailer regarding it in the last 6 months. I think there is a model at Lowes costing about 60$ that is lockable and complies to HOA rules…
10:21 AM on January 20th, 2010
Can you post the spec of the approved lock box on this blog? I contacted the new HOA rep from Common Interest and she doesn’t seem to know. She asked me to submit a formal “architectural” request. Ill let blog user know once its approved.
11:18 AM on January 30th, 2010
Seems like any black lockable mailbox are acceptable by the HOA. Many residents have already installed some.
8:48 PM on January 17th, 2010
The mail thefts and increased petty crime are all attributable to the Section 8 type housing that the Dublin City Council and mayor have so graciously welcomed and supported. If the citizens of Dublin want to avoid the “Oaklandization” of Dublin, these low income and multi-family projects must be blocked on a go forward basis before it’s too late. I’ve lived in Dublin for over fourteen years now, and the “quality” of Dublin residents has fallen off dramatically.
I grew up in the Bay Area and have seen two of my childhood neighborhoods ruined by low income residents. Both San Leandro and Castro Valley were once like Dublin – picturesque, clean, relatively crime free, and had above average school systems; however, look at both of these neighborhoods today. I’m not sure how far from San Francisco upper middle class families will need to move to live in a community that is worth the exorbitant prices that we pay to live here. Frankly, we’re running out of towns within a reasonable distance.
It’s just not fair to those of us who are burdened by high home prices and property taxes to also suffer the plight of low income neighborhoods.
Let’s place a moratorium on multi-family and low income housing in Dublin!
1:53 PM on January 18th, 2010
There are many studies that show that mail theft is most commonly fueled by methamphetamine use. Addicts can trade sensitive mail (used to commit identity theft) for methamphetamine, or cash to use for drugs.
The best defense against mail theft is a high security locking mailbox like the Mail Boss. The Gibraltar/Solar Group locking mailbox shown here is NOT a secure mailbox. It can be fished by hand quite easily, and it can be popped open with a screwdriver in just a second. We have this video on our blog here: http://www.mailboss.net/other-locking-mailboxes-part-i/
If you are going to spend money on a security locking mailbox, (a wise investment given the epidemic of mail identity theft), it is important to get one made of heavy-gauge steel, and with anti-pry features to secure your mail and protect your identity.