52nd Precinct On the Hunt for Mailbox “Fishers”

By DAVID CRUZ

Something’s fishy at a mailbox near you.

The 52nd Precinct is hoping to catch a couple of so-called “fishers” targeting mailboxes in Bedford Park and Norwood.

“Fishers” get their name after feeding a bottle affixed with an adhesive and shoestring into a street mailbox. The glue works to hook any piece of mail that’s fished out of the box, allowing thieves to sift through letters filled with gift cards or personal checks that are later altered and cashed.

“We’ve had an increase in grand larcenies when it comes to people mailing their checks,” said Inspector Nilda Hofmann, the 52nd Precinct’s commanding officer, adding this has contributed to an increase in grand larcenies.

So far, the scheme has been happening at night, prompting Hofmann to dispatch cops around mailboxes on the Grand Concourse, where the reported thefts have occurred.

Hofmann recommends anyone mailing a check to walk to their nearest post office and mail it there.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.