Chicago mail carriers are being robbed at an alarming rate, and Postal Service must do more to protect them

Ronald Clark, 37, of Roseland, a letter carrier for about seven years with the United States Postal Service, uses his master key, which unlocks mailboxes across the zip code, as he delivers mail in the 3800 block of South Wabash Avenue on the South Side on April 24. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)

Nothing stays mail couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds, the U.S. Postal Service tells us, but the agency itself is hardly being swift enough in responding to the growing number of armed robberies of its mail carriers.

Leaving its letter carriers at risk is shameful. The Postal Service needs to pull out all stops to protect them.