EDMONTON – The Edmonton Police Service says thieves have been breaking into apartment mailboxes in northeast Edmonton and stealing people’s identities.
Now, the EPS has charged 14 people in connection with these crimes. One of the accused is facing 132 charges.
Police say, since January, there have been about 24 incidents at 19 apartment buildings.
They say criminals got access to the buildings, pried open panel mailboxes, and stole residents’ mail.
Some buildings were repeatedly targeted, and police believe hundreds of people have been victimized.
“On the surface this might look like mischief to mailboxes, but it’s an identity theft operation,” said Cst. Alberto Asencio.
“This is one of the larger occurrences of mail theft that police have investigated in recent years, and it has many innocent victims who now have to audit all of their personal and financial information for criminal activity.”
Following an investigation involving EPS Economic Crimes, Tactical and Canine Units, and executed search warrants, officers seized computers, printers, forged documents, and other tools known to be used for identity theft and fraud. Police also recovered stolen personal documents and property.
The EPS and Canada Post have been working with property management and tenants of the affected apartment buildings on crime prevention strategies to reduce theft in the future.
Police say, in buildings that implemented the strategies, there have been no new reported incidents of mail theft.
Strategies to reduce apartment mail theft include:
- Conducting CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) audits of buildings to improve security features and increase surveillance, such as reinforcing exterior door locks with anti-pry panels to prevent them from being forced open.
- Replacing older, less-secure mail panels with stronger, more-secure mailboxes.
- Educating tenants about picking their mail up daily, not letting strangers into their building, and reporting suspicious persons or activities to police immediately.
“Boardwalk Rental Communities values the safety and security of our resident members,” said David McIlveen, director of community development with Boardwalk Rental Communities.
“In this case, partnering with the Edmonton Police Service gave us expert input and together we greatly increased the security of Boardwalk residents’ property.”
Boardwalk’s Maple Gardens complex recently installed new mailboxes.
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