SEATTLE — It's a long, nationwide tradition that's ending up behind lock and key – the U.S. Post Office lobby.
While the retail counters have always had set hours, post office lobbies used to be open 24/7, 365 days a year so anyone renting a P.O. Box could always access their mail. But the growing homeless population in Seattle is forcing some offices to lock up.
On Feb. 1, the U.S. Post Office in West Seattle's Westwood Village will close its lobby overnight between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. The Westwood Village location joins a growing list of Seattle post offices that are doing the same to combat people sleeping in the lobbies overnight and other criminal activities.
Ernie Swanson, with the U.S. Post Office, says P.O. Box owners have been hassled while trying to get their mail after hours, and found needles left behind by drug users. Staff members have even had to clean up human waste in the mornings, Swanson said.
All of those factors, coupled with vandalism and other crimes, have made at least 12 of 28 post offices in Seattle close the lobbies overnight.
It's not just a Seattle problem, either. Many post offices across the country in areas with dense homeless populations have had to do the same thing.
Luckily, post office users KING 5 spoke with on Thursday were not too concerned about the closure affecting their ability to access their mail.