How do you handle mailbox vandalism?

[TheMrs]

Hi all! DH and I have lived on our property for 16 months now and have only dealt with our mailbox being vandalized once in that time...until this week. We've now had two separate instances in a 5 day period.

Sunday morning DH got up to find that someone had swerved across the gravel road, hit our mailbox with their vehicle, then continued on. It was a rainy night and I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt that maybe it was really and truly an accident. DH had to beat the metal box back into shape and dig another hole, but no permanent damage was done.

Apparently last night they came again. This time it looks as if they actually stopped their vehicle, got out and physically pulled the box and post out of the ground. DH found everything away from the road off into the woods.

So, does anyone have any creative ideas on how to handle mailbox vandalism?

[kirkmcquest]

Set up a game camera. They are infrared ( no flash ) and motion triggered. When you get the pic and I.D the vehicle, you can handle it any number of ways. ; )

[Alice In TX/MO]

You build a studier mailbox. Hubby welded one together out of oilfield pipe.

[Alice In TX/MO]

Do a google search for vandal proof mailboxes. Interesting results. Here's one:
http://www.wackyinventions.com/177.html

[Laura Zone 10]

Put a HUGE SIGN out that says "Smile, you're on Candid Camera!!"

Build your mailbox out of concrete and mortar.

Put a motion detector light right by the box, so when they stop the light will come on.

Put a motion detector sprinkler next to the mailbox so they get soaked.

Sit on your property with a shotgun, in the dark, and when they stop cock the gun and them them they are being video taped.

[Ken Scharabok]

Most of the above suggestions sound a bit expensive.

You cannot put up a mailbox unless it is approved by the Postmaster General. Carriers can refuse to delivery to a non-approved box.

If you are the only one on your road with the problem, then likely some type of grudge.

Send a notice to be posted at the local highschool: $200 REWARD FOR INFORMATION LEADING TO THE ARREST AND CONVICTION OF PERSONS OR PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR MAIL BOX DAMAGE ON XXXXX ROAD.

Local county highway department has a heck of a time replacing street/road name signs and others, such as stop signs. It offered up to $500 and two young men were turned in, arrested and convicted. Both got something like 30 days. As I recall, one was still in high school. Since a city deputy went to the high school in the morning and afternoon to direct traffic, they rode with him. Person who turned them in got $300.

I had one kid tell it was like a scavanger hunt. Would start from a common place and the one who brought back the most signs was winner.

There is an Easy Street in McEwen. It is replaced about 50 times a year. City Council actually debated changing the name of the street.

[City Bound]

TheMRs, sorry about your troubles. I like the suggestion for posting a reword in the town and in the schools.

Ken I heard about these stupid games that the teenagers and the college kids play with mail boxes, signs, lawn furniture and figures...it is part of some innitiation process. I think it is awful. The only way I would accept this behavior from the kids is if they did not damage anything, and everything they took must be put back the next day. Like if they take signs as some highschool or summer game they have to have the sign back up on the pole by the end of the next night or there would be hell to pay, or if they take some lawn statue from someones lawn, it better be back there the next night with an appology note tapes to it, or a dollar taped to it.....or their would be some serious hell to pay.

I am sure some of the parents know what their kids are up to, it would be nice if the parents set the kids straight.

[Darren]

I got a 1/2" piece of steel plate and cut it so it fit the the bottom of a regular mail box. Then I had a machine shop drill and tap threads into the sides where the mail box has holes that are usually used to nail the box onto a board. The plate was welded onto a long piece of 6" pipe. The pipe was filled with sackcrete. Then four feet of the bottom of the pipe went into a hole and was concreted in with the sackcrete. Then a mailbox was fastened to the plate with screws. You couldn't tell there was anything special about that mailbox with the possibly exception of the pipe it was setting on

Sometime later someone in a car went by and took a swing at the mailbox with something during the night.

The mail box was slightly bent, but for some reason the plate in the bottom really reinforced it to the point, it was still useable even with the dent.

No one ever took a whack at the mail box again. with the exception of someone who backed into the mailbox and then complained they messed up their car. All they did to the mailbox was scratch the paint on the pipe. :banana02:

[Waiting Falcon]

We set a pipe in concrete then set a larger pipe over it then attached the mail box to the larger post. There was a set screw in the larger post to keep it from turning. However we did not use the screw for I found when the mailbox was hit it would spin around. In our case it was kids - I think it has something to do with dares and it can be more toward the end of the school year and graduation. I saw a heavy kid sitting in the back of a pickup with a steel baseball bat hit our mail box. The blow sent it spinning around.
But it had also been hit with large rocks- those were guys in their 20's- vandalized grave stones were also used.

I think we MUST teach our children that they must respect other people and their property in all ways including trashing, grafitti and pranks.
And that they do not have to do bad things to be liked. It is not worth it!

[caroline]

Get a post office box

[Usingmyrights]

What I would like to do for such things (note that I said "would like to do" not "do") Is get 4" sq tube piping and get it welded up to look like a standard mailbox post. I'd say about 7' long. I'd paint it white to look like a standard post then sink it down about 3' with concrete poured around it. Then take a large rural route style mailbox and put a standard one inside. Fill the gap with concrete. Fasten this to the post. I'd get some HD bolts and run them all of the way through the two boxes and into the post. This should prevent any major damage/removal of the box. If there is any damage it'll probably be a one time occurance. I would also add a camera watching the box to see the reaction of people trying to play mailbox baseball.

[mekasmom]

Originally Posted by Alice In TX/MO

You build a studier mailbox. Hubby welded one together out of oilfield pipe.

This is the best idea.
My youngest son has a mental disability. About 8yrs ago, when he moved out, he met a young man whom he thought was a "friend". The young man and he vandalized many mailboxes at that time "for fun". Of course we didn't know about it until one day when he came home to visit, he told us about his new friend and how they had seen themselves on crimestoppers on TV. We were horrified! We never brought him up to do those types of things, but once he was an adult and ran with others, he did them. He has some brain damage, and although he knows right from wrong, he has little self control. If someone starts a riot, he would join in. He is a follower with no self control even when he is on medication. He just has some problems, but once he was adult, we couldn't control him. He moved out, and made his own decisions. It's sad. And they both thought getting on TV on their local crimestoppers show for the vandalism was funny.
As it turned out, one night they were out hitting mailboxes with a 2x4. The friend would drive by slowly, and son was holding a 2x4 out the passenger car window hitting mail boxes as they drove by. Then came the "sturdy" mailbox. When they hit that one, the board flew back up, out of the kid's hands, and hit the back passenger window and shattered it, plus left a big dent in the "friend's" side panel on the car. PRAISE GOD! It stopped their new past-time immediately. That mailbox didn't get dented or knocked down. because it was built into a concrete "cave-like" covering.
So, the moral of the story, is that by creating an impenetrable, strong mailbox you may be doing more than saving your own property from vandalism. You might actually be teaching some wayward kids a very hard lesson that they will learn from in their lives.
As far as our son, they were both arrested, but the other boy got into a lot more trouble. Ours was sent for some mental and medical evaluations and put under medical care, while the other was prosecuted. The other boy had been in trouble many times, while this was the first time our son had done anything like this. He still has trouble recognizing what REAL friends are, and that may never change. We just pray for him. It is much easier to take care of kids when they are small than worry about everything when they are adults and you have no power to control them.

[mamita]

we've not had the problem, but the poor man down the road has...many, many times. he now puts his mailbox out in the morning with a bungie cord holding it on, takes it in at night. if we do ever have a problem, we will make a brick enclosure. we have the brick and mortar on hand, and the mailbox will sit completely inside with the door accessible as usual. we've even thought it might look rather pretty, so may end up doing it anyway.

[Usingmyrights]

A friend of mines parents had a very nice brick mailbox setup. A construction truck from next door backed into it and knocked the whole thing off of its slab in one big piece minus a few chipped bricks at the bottom.

[oregon woodsmok]

Around here, if anyone got themselves injured by hitting a reinforced mailbox, the owner of the mailbox would be liable. Take that into consideration.

I had a place right on a corner in a location where the road got icy. About twice a month, someone would lose control of their car and snap the post off. My solution was to not place the post into the ground. It was propped up with some rocks and bricks, and every time it got knocked down, I simply propped it up again.

I would not have wanted to injure, or maybe even kill, a driver or family because they lost control of their car on the ice. If the car skids to a stop, after just snapping off a mailbox, the people would be OK. If the car made a very abrupt halt do to hitting a concrete filled post, it could result in serious injuries. (OK, their responsibility because they were driving too fast, but still, I didn't want to put them into the hospital)

[tnroadkill]

small pvc pipe one end cape glued on, fill with skunk scent(wally world or sporting goods) put other end on with NO glue paint black, silicone on side of mailbox loose end toward road,
if you hear it hit during night, get up check nearest car wash

[Danaus29]

Some states do have break-away mailbox requirements. Thankfully Ohio is not one of them. I have known people to buy a really big mailbox, insert a smaller mailbox and fill the gap with concrete. Our post is an old treated 8x8 post. I have seen people use old telephone poles as mailbox posts. They still have to comply with federal and local mailbox regulations though.

[Fat Charlie]

That reminds me of someone I know who makes a sort of poison ivy tea and kept it in a spray bottle. She used it on things that nobody ought to be touching. If something walked away or got vandalized it didn't help her, but it sure made her feel better about it.

[Cash]

Originally Posted by Danaus29

I have known people to buy a really big mailbox, insert a smaller mailbox and fill the gap with concrete.

Brother's rural neighborhood had a serious problem with their mailboxes getting the baseball bat treatment. Kids would drive down the road with one hanging out the window with an aluminum bat. So a neighbor did this, with concrete in the gap between the two mailboxes. A couple of nights later, he heard the car coming down the road and someone hitting mailboxes. Bang! Bang! Bang! Shlump! Never had a problem after that.

[lovinthislife]

we used to have a neighbor who was constantly losing his mailbox. One night he sat in the shadows with a shotgun. Sure enough this little S10 pulled up and a boy in the back stood up to take a swing. Bo stood up and cocked that gun. They about pooped their pants. He fired it over their fleeing taillights. No one ever bothered Bo's mailbox again.

Someone last year was tearing mine off. I know it was the neighbor kids. They're always wandering around, getting into trouble. My husband didn't want to do anything that could hurt them or make them so mad that they'd really do some damage to our property.

I wrote a note and put it out on the mailbox to where they could see something was there. A night or two later we heard the car pull up and then pull out. Our mailbox wasn't hit anymore. What did I write? I wrote on the note. "I know your young and enjoying your time out with your friends, but I'm disabled and you know I can't afford to keep buying mailboxes. Please leave mine alone." I guess I got to their morals because they haven't done it since.