When most Americans think of the US Postal Service (USPS), images of blue collection boxes, mail trucks, and friendly neighborhood letter carriers usually come to mind. But there‘s another side to the USPS that often goes unnoticed – its own federal law enforcement arm known as the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), or more informally, the postal police.
The postal police are sworn federal agents tasked with protecting USPS employees, facilities, and assets, as well as ensuring the safety and security of the U.S. mail system. From mail fraud and identity theft to drug trafficking and terrorism, postal police officers investigate a wide range of criminal offenses and security threats involving the misuse of the mail.
In this in-depth article, we‘ll explore the fascinating history and modern-day role of the postal police. We‘ll examine what makes the USPIS unique among law enforcement agencies, the specialized training and expertise of postal police officers, and the critical function they serve in safeguarding one of America‘s oldest and most essential public institutions.
The Numbers Behind the Postal Police Mission
To appreciate the scope and importance of the postal police‘s mission, it helps to understand the sheer size and ubiquity of the USPS. As of 2021, the Postal Service:
- Delivers 146 billion pieces of mail annually to 163 million delivery points
- Handles 46% of the world‘s total mail volume
- Employs nearly 500,000 workers, including 342,000 mail carriers
- Operates 31,330 retail post offices and 425 mail processing/distribution facilities
- Generates $73 billion in annual revenue [1]
With such an expansive infrastructure and volume of mail, the opportunities for crime and security lapses are substantial. This is where the postal police come in. The approximately 1,200 postal inspectors of the USPIS are responsible for investigating and preventing any criminal activity that misuses or targets the mail system.
In a typical year, postal police:
- Arrest over 5,000 criminal suspects, with convictions resulting in over 6,000 years of prison sentences
- Respond to over 800 postal-related assaults and credible threats
- Seize nearly 50,000 pounds of illegal narcotics and $10 million in illicit proceeds from drug trafficking
- Recover over 50,000 firearms from illegal shipment through the mail
- Protect over $500 million worth of assets from criminal attack or natural disaster [2]
From the Pony Express to the Dark Web: The Evolving Role of the Postal Police
The origins of the postal police can be traced all the way back to Benjamin Franklin, who as the first postmaster general appointed a "surveyor" in 1772 to audit postal finances and investigate inefficiencies. By 1801, Congress had formally empowered the Post Office to investigate and prosecute crimes against the mail, such as theft and robbery of mail bags transported by horse and stagecoach.
As railroads expanded mail delivery across the growing nation in the late 1800s, so too did the ranks and responsibilities of the postal police. Postal inspectors became a regular presence on mail trains, keeping a watchful eye out for robbers and bandits. It‘s this period that gave rise to the hardboiled image of the armed postal inspector as a kind of "Wild West lawman" of the rails.
Fast forward to the 21st century, and the criminal threats facing the mail system have grown dramatically in scope and sophistication. While postal police still contend with old-fashioned mail theft and robberies, much of their work has shifted to investigating complex mail fraud schemes, financial cybercrimes, and the online drug trade. Some key stats on these postal crime trends:
- Mail theft complaints jumped 600% between 2017 to 2020 as more people ordered packages online during the pandemic [3]
- Losses from mail fraud schemes cost Americans $1.2 billion in 2020, a 33% increase from 2019 [4]
- USPS seized 95,000 pounds of narcotics from suspicious packages and letters in 2021, up 400% since 2019 [5]
To keep pace with these evolving challenges, the USPIS has had to adapt both its crime-fighting tactics and its workforce. Postal inspectors now receive specialized training in computer forensics, financial crimes investigation, and online undercover operations. The service has also deployed new screening technologies to intercept suspicious mail, such as X-ray scanners and chemical sensors for drugs and explosives.
"Postal CSI": The Unique Skills and Career of a Postal Police Officer
While all postal police officers graduate from a rigorous training academy and share a core set of law enforcement abilities, they can specialize in a number of unique investigative areas over their careers, such as:
- Mail theft and violent crimes
- Dangerous mail and homeland security
- Revenue and asset protection
- Cybercrime and analytics
- International operations
- Forensic examination of questioned documents
Postal police officers bring a wide range of academic and professional backgrounds to the job, from accounting and computer science to linguistics and law. But they all share a high degree of curiosity, attention to detail, and problem-solving ability. Teamwork and flexibility are also essential, as inspectors frequently collaborate with other law enforcement agencies and must adapt to working cases all over the country.
Becoming a postal inspector is highly competitive, with only a small percentage of qualified applicants hired each year. Candidates must be at least 21 years old, possess a four-year college degree, pass a rigorous background investigation, and meet physical and medical standards. New hires undergo a 16-week basic training program in legal studies, investigations, physical techniques, and firearms proficiency.
Upon graduation, postal police officers are assigned to one of the USPIS‘s 18 field divisions across the US. They typically rotate through several investigative roles and geographic locations over the course of their careers to gain diverse experience. With satisfactory performance, postal inspectors can advance into supervisory and management roles at the district, area, and national levels.
Protecting the Postal Brand: How the USPIS Compares to Private Retail and Logistics Security
As a major commercial enterprise delivering 146 billion mail pieces a year, the USPS has obvious parallels to private retail and logistics companies like Amazon, FedEx, and UPS. All of these businesses face threats like cargo theft, counterfeiting, and cyberattacks. But the postal police stand out in a few key respects:
-
As federal agents, postal inspectors have broader law enforcement authority than private corporate security. They can execute search warrants, make arrests, and bring criminal charges with the power of the U.S. government behind them.
-
The USPIS has a wider jurisdiction and remit that goes beyond just protecting USPS assets and personnel. It has a mandate to safeguard the entire U.S. mail system, including all items sent via USPS, even when theft or tampering occurs away from postal property.
-
The postal police have a long-standing role as the expert federal agency on mail-related crime. Private companies often lack the specialized knowledge and skills to investigate complex mail crimes and must work with the USPIS to resolve cases.
-
As a public agency, the USPIS is subject to greater transparency and oversight than private security operations. Postal police are accountable to Congress, USPS leadership, and the public to ensure their tactics uphold civil liberties.
At the same time, the USPIS faces some unique resource constraints as part of the financially-struggling Postal Service. While private companies can invest heavily in security technology and personnel, the postal police must make do with more limited staff and budgets. In 2019, the USPIS had a total workforce of just 2,462, down from a peak of nearly 4,000 in the 1990s. [6]
Stamping Out Crime Worldwide: The USPIS‘s Global Partnerships and Operations
Mail crime is increasingly a cross-border and international affair, with the rise of global e-commerce and darknet marketplaces. The USPIS has had to strengthen its overseas presence and partnerships in order to keep pace with these threats. Today, the postal police have:
- 130 postal inspectors permanently assigned to international posts with Interpol and Europol
- Active bilateral task forces and intelligence sharing with 12 key foreign postal administrations
- 22 criminal analysts working at the National Targeting Center to identify inbound shipments of drugs, arms, and contraband
- Attaché offices providing investigative support and training in five regions: the Americas, Europe/Africa, Asia Pacific, Canada, and Caribbean [7]
Through these international efforts, the USPIS has played a key role in several high-profile global busts. In 2018, the service was instrumental in shutting down AlphaBay, the world‘s largest darknet marketplace, and indicting 35 suspects involved in its drug and fraud schemes. In 2020, data from USPIS helped French and Dutch authorities dismantle Dark Market, a major underground bazaar for drugs, malware, and fake documents.
Risks and Controversies Surrounding the Postal Police
For all their crucial work protecting the mail and the public, the postal police have at times courted controversy and concern over their tactics and accountability. Civil liberties advocates have raised alarms about USPIS‘s extensive surveillance and mail-covers program, which allows postal inspectors to secretly monitor and record information on the outside of people‘s mail.
There have also been complaints about postal inspectors using excessive force, conducting improper searches and seizures, and disproportionately targeting minorities for enforcement. While postal police are overseen by internal affairs and subject to DOJ use-of-force guidelines, some argue there should be stronger independent oversight and transparency surrounding their operations.
A major point of contention recently has been Postmaster General Louis DeJoy‘s 2020 order limiting postal police to postal property, sharply curtailing their ability to investigate mail theft and delivery crimes in the field. Postal police unions have decried the move as a dangerous erosion of the service‘s law enforcement mandate, filing a lawsuit against USPS leadership to reverse the policy.
Delivering Justice in a Mail-Dominated Future
Looking ahead, the postal police seem likely to only grow in importance as e-commerce and digital communication make the mail system even more central to the American economy and society. As sophisticated mail-based scams and organized retail crime continue to rise, the unique skills and cross-jurisdictional reach of the postal police will be indispensable.
At the same time, the USPIS must work to stay ahead of the curve with the latest technologies and techniques to screen for mail threats. This could include wider adoption of artificial intelligence to detect anomalies and red flags in mail data, risk assessment models to predict emerging hotspots for mail theft, and public-private partnerships to harden postal supply chains.
The postal police must also reckon with the delicate balance between mail security and user privacy. While rigorous screening and surveillance are needed to prevent dangerous items from entering the mail stream, these efforts must be reconciled with due process and civil liberties. Building public trust through community engagement and transparency will be key.
Ultimately, a safe and reliable mail system is the bedrock of a functioning democratic society. We count on the mail to deliver not only our essential goods and communications, but our ballots, census forms, and benefit checks. In this sense, the postal police are not just protecting the sanctity of the mail, but the integrity of our civic life as a nation.
So the next time a letter or package arrives safely at your door, take a moment to consider the hidden work of the postal police in making that delivery possible. These unsung guardians of the mail are out there every day, working to ensure that the USPS remains a secure and trustworthy public service for all Americans. Our nation‘s oldest law enforcement agency may also be its most underappreciated – but the USPIS will keep watch over our mail system as long as we keep sending.
