When this happened in the 1920, President Harding dent the Marines to protect the mail.
https://www.sandboxx.us/blog/the-mail-marines-protecting-packages/
The order to the Marines.
“You must, when on guard duty, keep your weapons in hand and, if attacked, shoot and shoot to kill. There is no compromise in this battle with bandits. If two Marines guarding a mail car, for example, are suddenly covered by a robber, neither must hold up his hands, but both must begin shooting at once. One may be killed, but the other will get the robbers and save the mail. When our Marine Corps men go as guards over the mail, that mail must be delivered, or there must be a dead Marine at the post of duty. “
Robberies stopped cold.
Love that description. Too bad Harding hit a scandal in those prissy times. Sounded like a good guy.
Sometimes the old ways are the best ways.
L
Back in the day passenger trains carried the mail as well as passengers. It is one reason why mail moved so much faster 100 years ago than today. The mail was actually sorted while it moved between cities. And the train didn’t need to stop to either pick up or deliver mail to a town as it went by it.
It is also why the Federal government could intervene in rail strikes. You could do a lot of things, but don’t even think of interfering with the mail. But I fear the days of taking forceful action to prevent and/or punish crimes are long past us. Except, of course, crimes against special people and places.