Residents in the Oak Lawn neighborhood of Dallas report having received little to no response from federal and local officials after complaining their mail has been stolen for months.
“I can’t trust the mail anymore,” Ryan Aiken told CBS News Texas. “I’ve lived all over the United States, and I’ve never lived in a place where I can’t trust that mail will be delivered to me.”
Returning to Dallas after being away for a month, Aiken went to the United States Postal Service to collect his mail. But it had already been delivered to his address and, subsequently, taken.
“They said, ‘Well, unfortunately, we delivered your whole month’s worth of mail to this mailbox yesterday, so it’s all gone.'”
According to residents, the thefts have been going on for three or four months. Yung Chung, who has lived in the area for almost 20 years, said she is “fed up.”
“Thinking of moving out of Dallas County, maybe,” she told CBS News Texas.
Residents have reported the thefts to USPS and the Dallas Police Department. A spokesperson for DPD could not immediately provide information on the complaints, and USPS did not respond to a request for comment by the deadline.
Chung told CBS News Texas that homeless encampments are also a problem in the area.
“That’s more of a nuisance, like when insects bug you all the time,” she said.
On Monday, a man wearing a box, boots, and T-shirt exposed himself to passersby in vehicles who were recording him, according to CBS News Texas. With complaints going unaddressed at the local level, homeowners have sought reportedly sought help from U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett.
“There’s no sense of law and order,” Aiken told CBS News Texas. “There’s no safety, I have two daughters who can’t walk around their own neighborhood because it’s not safe here. It’s just not safe anymore.”
The Oak Lawn neighborhood is in Paul Ridley’s District 14. His office did not respond to a message seeking comment.
DX polling suggests that most residents think Dallas officials are doing a poor job of “keeping crime low; addressing homelessness, vagrancy, and panhandling; [and] keeping public spaces clean.” And the latest Dallas survey conducted by the ETC Institute shows similar results.
Homelessness continues to be a key issue in Dallas, but City leaders can’t seem to agree on how exactly to address it. Respondents to earlier polls by DX show general support for the “one-stop-shop” homeless services model used by Haven for Hope in San Antonio, which has achieved a 77% reduction in unsheltered homelessness in the city’s downtown area.