Category: Safety and Crime

Here you will find informational posts regarding safety and crime issues in our neighborhood. These posts will often include communications between the Boise Police Department and neighborhood associations

Who’s Stealing Our Mail and Why?

Crime Prevention2:38 PM (8 hours ago)
to Crime

In recent weeks I have seen a few complaints of mail theft in various areas of Boise.   So far in 2024 we have received four reports of mail being stolen.   

Mail theft is a different problem than package theft.  When someone steals a package, they are looking for a valuable item sitting on our doorstep.  When a person steals mail, that are looking to steal your financial information or your identity.

What are thieves looking for?  Cash, checks, gift cards, account numbers, your social security number, banking details, pay stubs, and identifying information like your name and date of birth.

Reduce the opportunity.  Switching to paperless billing and statements can reduce the amount of sensitive mail you receive.

Purchase a lockable mailbox.  A lockable mailbox allows the postal carrier to deliver mail through a slot in the mailbox but requires a key to open and retrieve mail.

Don’t flag your mailbox as a target.  Using the red flag on your mailbox can alert thieves that there is something inside to be stolen. Hand your mail directly to a letter carrier, use a secured USPS blue mailbox, or go directly to your local Post Office to send mail.

Pick up your mail regularly. Don’t leave letters in the mailbox for several days, over the weekend or even overnight. Make checking your mailbox part of your daily routine.

Stop delivery. Alert the Post Office if you are going out of town and request them to temporarily stop the delivery of your mail.  When you return, you can pick up your mail at the local post office and resume normal delivery.  https://www.usps.com/manage/hold-mail.htm

Talk to your neighbors.  If your mail was stolen, let your neighbors know.  They may not realize their mail was stolen too. Watching out for your neighbors helps to build relationships and keep your neighborhood safe.

Be aware of and report suspicious activity.  Notice an unknown individual looking at or tampering with mailboxes in your neighborhood?  Report it to non-emergency dispatch 208-377-6790.

Sign up for Informed Delivery through the postal service.  While this won’t prevent mail theft, it will provide you with a daily picture of all letter size mail that is on its way to your mailbox.  You can sign up for this free service through the United States Postal Service at https://informeddelivery.usps.com.

How to report if your mail was stolen?  You can report by calling 208-377-6790 or can report online on the Boise Police website.  To file a complaint with the USPS you can use this link https://usps.my.site.com/emailus/s/daily-mail-delivery-inquiry or call 1-877-876-2455.

Crime Prevention Unit

Boise Police Department

Office: (208)570-6071

Crime and Safety

ACHD Proposed Changes in Neighborhood “Speed Calming” Policy

This is a recap of a proposed change in ACHD policy for those requesting speed calming.   In the past applicants would need to collect data to prove excessive traffic speed, traffic volume, and cut-through. A cut-through is when traffic passes through a residential neighborhood that did not originate, nor arrive at a destination in that neighborhood. Additionally, a petition for speed mitigation needed signatures from 75% of affected residents. At that point, ACHD would consider if it would pay for the speed mitigation structures, or if the requesting party were responsible.

Under the proposed policy, calming applicants will have to prove either excessive speed or traffic volume in the area — not both — and get the required signatures on their petition. This eliminates the cut-through requirement. ACHD will pay for the cost of the structure installations.

Traffic speed and volume are typically determined by placing tube counters across the road at an agreed-upon location. According to the policy, a street must be over 750 feet in length and have more than 400 cars per day to be considered eligible for traffic calming evaluation. If a street has more than 4,000 vehicles per day, it surpasses the upper limit for traffic calming and is not eligible. Only residential streets and collector roads that have a speed limit of 30 MPH or less are eligible for traffic calming.

The default speed limit in Boise is 20 mph, so the majority of our side streets qualify.

We’re not sure how ADHD would define “affected residents” when requiring signatures. And, while now a moot point, we also don’t know how ACHD would define the boundaries of the “neighborhood” for cut-through.

We are expecting to hear more about where these proposed changes stand over the coming weeks. We’ll keep you posted!

Neighborhood Contact Officer – Presentation – May 16, 2023

Here is the Power Point presentation that was made to your Neighborhood Watch leaders at the West Boise Police Station, Mark Stall Place. There was good attendance and many questions addressed by BPD officers and staff. Many thanks to our BPD community for taking their time to keep our neighborhoods informed and protected!

National Night Out

National Night Out is Tuesday August 1.  Registration for Nation Night Out 2023 opens today and runs through July 25, 2023. 

Please do not wait until the last minute to register.  While we encourage all to enjoy a great time with their neighbors and community, we can only guarantee City representatives (police/fire, etc.) for the first 50 parties to register.

REGISTER HERE: https://www.cityofboise.org/departments/police/national-night-out/register-your-national-night-out-event/

Boise Neighborhood Watch Information and Documents

We will be adding updates and new information for Neighborhood Watch and BPD as we receive them.

Gang Graffiti – Have you seen this in your neighborhood?

Last weekend someone(s) put this on a common area fence in the Mahogany Park subdivision. It was reported to Boise Police the next day. BPD quickly responded. According to the visiting officer, this type of graffiti is not normally seen in West Boise but is more commonly found in Nampa and Caldwell and is gang related. Gangs customarily use such marking to claim “their” territory. Mahogany Park is NOT gang territory. The Centennial neighborhood is NOT gang territory. Once notified the Mahogany Park HOA quickly removed this graffiti. If you see unsightly graffiti in your area, immediately report to Boise Graffiti 208-377-6790.