Mailbox break-ins plague Surrey community

A Surrey woman says thieves have targeted her family's community mailbox for the third straight year, and she is demanding Canada Post take action and find a secure way to deliver their mail.

When Jeanette Bellrichard went to unlock her mailbox last weekend, the main door had been pried open and dozens of mailboxes had been emptied.

Bellrichard says someone's been stealing mail from their neighbourhood box for years, but Canada Post refuses to take action.

"It's been very frustrating. And now I have no faith whatsoever in that box."

Two years ago thieves intercepted a $10,000 cheque and her daughter's first credit card.Then someone stole her daughter's identity and racked up thousands in charges, even trying to buy a car in her name, in Ontario.

Bellrichard has been asking Canada Post to find some way to secure her mailbox or deliver to her house.

'I'm entitled to have mail delivered to me safely.' —Jeanette Bellrichard

"I'm entitled to have mail delivered to me safely," she says.

Canada Post Spokesman John Caines says the community mailboxes are generally safe and make delivering the mail more efficient.

"More and more people are being put on centralize delivery, which is community delivery box or kiosk — those kinds of things. It's much more efficient."

Surrey RCMP say the boxes are not necessarily targeted more frequently by thieves, but they can be more efficient for thieves because they can access a whole neighbourhood's mail in one stop.