The US Postal Service lacks sufficient procedures to assess its law enforcement requirements, potentially leaving the postal agency inadequately prepared to handle an increase in crimes targeting its staff.
Crime Surge Outside USPS Property
Serious crimes such as robberies and assaults against letter carriers and other postal workers have significantly increased in recent years, doubling since 2019. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that much of this increase was due to robberies occurring outside USPS property, where thieves are increasingly resorting to firearms to steal universal keys from letter carriers.
The surge in crimes has stirred strong reactions from both employee groups and lawmakers, which has prompted new policies from postal management. USPS has taken steps to harden its blue collection boxes to prevent break-ins and is replacing tens of thousands of universal arrow keys with electronic alternatives. Postal management has also raised the rewards for information leading to the conviction of mail thieves, offering payouts of up to $250,000.
The Government Accountability Office's Criticism of USPS' Outdated Approach
Despite these efforts, the GAO criticized USPS and its Postal Inspection Service (PIS) for not having formal processes or documentation regarding their decision-making on the deployment of law enforcement personnel and their assignments. According to GAO, the inspector in charge of each division conducts an annual review to assess workforce requirements, analyzing staffing patterns and complaint information. However, there are limited details on the procedures for conducting this review, and supervisors do not document their methodologies.
According to the auditors, USPS and PIS leadership lack a method to verify whether division leaders are applying consistent standards in their assessments of workforce needs and have not evaluated the size or geographic distribution of its postal police workforce since 2011. This outdated approach means that the agency is making decisions about the deployment and responsibilities of postal police based on obsolete information.
The PIS currently has 367 employees in its police force, which is 37% less than its authorized level. The number of inspectors has remained relatively stable since 2017, hovering around 1,400, although it dropped to 1,228 recently, representing a 14% shortfall from the authorized level. While local PIS leaders make assessments of staffing requirements, USPS management, as noted by the GAO, makes the final decision on inspector staffing levels.
The union representing postal police officers has been actively pursuing expanded patrol rights beyond the interior of post office buildings. Frank Albergo, the national president of the Postal Police Officers Association, pointed out the correlation between a rising trend in postal crimes and the role of the postal police force, which is not hard to put together.
In response to the watchdog report, USPS officials stated their intention to evaluate their security force but have not provided a timeframe for when this assessment will take place.
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