Postal Service sued by postal police officer union after limiting their powers

Erin Couch, Cincinnati Enquirer
·2 min read
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Following a rise in thefts from U.S. Postal Service mailboxes last year after mail carriers were robbed of their keys, the Hamilton County sheriff advised patrons to skip the blue boxes outside and take their bills and letters inside the post office to mail instead.
Following a rise in thefts from U.S. Postal Service mailboxes last year after mail carriers were robbed of their keys, the Hamilton County sheriff advised patrons to skip the blue boxes outside and take their bills and letters inside the post office to mail instead.

A union representing postal police officers sued U.S. Postal Service on Monday to reinstate outside patrols, allowing them to protect workers from increasing attacks.

According to a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia by the Postal Police Officers Association, the Postal Service issued a memo on Aug. 25, 2020, that directed managers to stop postal police officers from performing law enforcement activities anywhere but at buildings owned by the Postal Service.

Postal police officers work under the administrative control of the United States Postal Inspection Service, which is the law enforcement and security arm of the Postal Service. They investigate and prevent mail theft and mail tampering, as well as crimes against postal employees.

An arbitrator stepped in after the postal police union filed a grievance in September 2020 to reinstate the postal police officers' outside patrols. The arbitrator sided with the union. Despite this, the Postal Service upheld its decision to reduce the postal police powers.

Postal workers and mailboxes were targeted

Mail carriers have been robbed on routes for the keys to public mailboxes. Thieves are accused of carrying out check fraud from stolen mail.

In March of last year, the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office was investigating more than 40 cases of mail theft and thieves had taken more than $200,000 from Postal Sevice blue mailboxes.

Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey encouraged people to take their mail inside the post offices instead of using the mailboxes outside.

In January, the Postal Service offered cash rewards to find perpetrators of mail theft, including one of a mail carrier in Norwood, Enquirer media partner Fox19 reported.

The lawsuit says there were approximately 3,000 postal officers in the early 1980s. In October 2020 there were 425. Today, there are only 344 officers, a 28% reduction since the 2020 figure.

David Partenheimer, spokesman for the Postal Service, said the agency has no comment on the suit, as it is pending litigation.

Union president Frank Albergo said since Jan.1, the media has reported at least 73 armed robberies of letter carriers.

"So now PPOs are sitting on the sidelines watching this debacle unfold. The Fraternal Order of Police, the National Association of Police Organizations, the National Association of Postal Supervisors, members of Congress and letter carriers themselves have all implored the postmaster general and the Postal Inspection Service to put (postal police officers) back out on the streets where they are needed most," he said in a statement. "When a letter carrier asks for postal police protection, it should be given. This seems like a common sense first step and yet the Inspection Service refuses to oblige.

"Unfortunately, it is clear that the postmaster general and the Inspection Service are determined to prove themselves right – and everyone else wrong – even if it comes at the expense of postal worker safety."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: USPS sued by postal police officer union after limiting their powers