FOLLOWUP: What USPS says about damaged West Seattle mailboxes

| West Seattle news | Westwood

Last week we reported on damage to the outdoor mailboxes at both West Seattle Post Offices – The Junction here, Westwood Village here. At week’s end we sent followup inquiries to the USPS’s regional media liaison Janella Herron, who replied today. She wouldn’t comment on whether either or both of the incidents involved theft or just vandalism, saying only that “Damage to both boxes (was) outside of retail hours.” She said the incidents had been referred to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. As for a timeline for replacement or repair, “Repair or replacement of these out-of-service collection boxes is based on availability of replacement parts / products and I am unable to provide a timeline.” The Junction box has since been removed, but the Westwood box was still in place when we went by this afternoon and may even be in service, as it was no longer taped closed nor marked with the OUT OF SERVICE sign that had been placed on it by Friday afternoon (photo above).

KD January 5, 2026 (5:15 pm)

I wish both post offices (and all) do the set up the Burien PO has.. their drive up is behind a tall fence with just the entry drop mouth of the box exposed. All else is behind high fence. I know that fence is cut into easy by crooks with their jigsaw cutters, but at least it’s a deterrent for a bit and a visual of them doing no-good

THOMAS January 5, 2026 (8:40 pm)

they still havent put in cameras yet why not

Derp January 5, 2026 (10:40 pm)

These are US govt owned, do you really think they would put up a camera for a stupid mail box. Come on, the one on California looked like one of our privileged west Seattle drivers took it out.
- 1994 January 5, 2026 (10:57 pm)
  
  Cameras sound like they might help provide a solution to the ongoing destruction of property plus probable mail theft. Cameras could help figure out who is doing this and in a perfect world the court would have them to reimburse the US Postal Service for the expenses to repair or replace property.
- North Admiral Cyclist January 6, 2026 (5:31 am)
  
  These days, any business or government office can install a security camera for about $200 per camera. You’ll have high quality 4k video and they can be set to only record when something (person or vehicle) is in the area of concern. I feel bad for USPS. It doesn’t help that USPS has DeJoy running the operation, who seems to want to put the Post Office out of business.
  - Derp January 6, 2026 (9:15 am)
    
    That is exactly what Trump and Dejoy want to do. Been known for years. Dejoy ran a shipping business and it will become his

22blades January 6, 2026 (3:31 am)

If the much of the damage is attributed to a lack of driving skills, I would think bollards or barriers would be a good investment. The good new/s is, the USPS will no longer guarantee postmarking your voting ballot by election day so there’s no rush to make America great……….again.

Cait January 6, 2026 (8:24 am)

The mailbox next to Box Bar at California & Brandon is now gone as well. I walked by this morning around 8am and a man in a USPS van was uninstalling it.

WSB January 6, 2026 (9:09 am)

Somebody texted us less than an hour ago that it was being removed but didn’t mention the UPS van. Will have to check out the others and then will ask the USPS.