LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Postal carriers in the Las Vegas valley say they're being assaulted while on the job and they're fed up with it.
Local members of the National Association of Letter Carriers, the union that represents United States Postal Service mail delivery personnel, rallied in downtown Las Vegas on Wednesday at the Lloyd D. George U.S. Courthouse.
Paul Peterman, president of the union's local chapter and a former longtime valley letter carrier himself, was among those leading the demonstration, which featured a few dozen postal employees.
"It's extremely bad out there," Peterman said. "Something has happened in the last few years where people seem to think it's alright to assault their letter carriers."
On Tuesday, Channel 13 visited with several mail carriers.
Brian Riggs has been a USPS mailman in Henderson for over a decade and in the spring of 2020, he was sucker-punched while out on a route.
"I'm sorting mail for a community box when a group came up from behind me," Riggs said. "I was punched in the side of the head with the goal of just knocking me out. They didn't achieve that goal, but I was forced to defend myself before they went on their way."
Peterman said instances like what Riggs experienced back in 2020 are too common today.
He said the rally has a few different objectives. First, the carriers want to raise awareness about the fact that they, at times, feel unsafe while delivering mail.
They also want more resources to go into the investigation of mailperson assaults, along with stronger sentences for such crimes. The local union chapter represents about 1,500 carriers here in the valley.
Peterman said more resources need to be funneled to the USPS investigative arm.
"The Postal Inspection Service does investigate, but it's the federal prosecutors that have to put these folks away," Peterman said. "We need stiffer penalties. People aren't getting the message that this is a big no-no."
At the rally, the demonstrators chanted and walked with signs, some reading "enough is enough," while motorists passed by on Las Vegas Boulevard.
"What's been happening, it makes you a lot more nervous when you're out there delivering mail," Riggs said. "Sometimes, we're out there 12 or 16 hours per day, and these interactions can really rattle the nerves."
