More mail being stolen from within the U.S. Postal Service
A federal oversight report shared this week shows more mail is being stolen from inside the postal service. The Office of the Inspector General says criminal organizations are targeting employees to move narcotics and steal checks.
While billions of letters and packages go through the mail every holiday season, and every year we see porch pirates looking to steal those deliveries. But for fiscal year 2023 theft from inside the postal system is at an all-time high, which is a concern for Frank Albergo, the president of the Postal Police Officers Association.
"As a postal employee, who has been with the Postal Service for over 30 years, it's sad to see that the Postal Service is under attack," Albergo said.
For context, the crime is occurring with a small percentage of the hundreds of thousands of postal employees, but any criminal access to mail can quickly lead to more victims.
"When postal employees collude with criminal organizations and hand over the arrow keys, they were calling that the keys to the kingdom," Albergo said.
A government oversight report from OIG showed a case in Milwaukee where an employee confessed to stealing more than 1,200 pieces of mail. In Saint Louis, agents found employees had rifled through package deliveries for months.
All of that prompted the USPS to release a training video for employees in partnership with OIG.
USPS declined an interview to discuss the theft but shared a report showing fewer robberies and mail theft complaints outside of the office, and more robbery arrests following a push last year for carrier safety and mail security.
The report reading, "...since the start of fiscal year 2024 (10/1/23) through July 2024, robberies were down 24% compared to the same period the previous year, mail theft complaints decreased by 27%, and robbery arrests increased by 56%."
But the decline still comes after spikes in years prior and Albergo believes it's not enough.
"It's basically sticking a knife in someone's back nine inches, pulling it out three inches, and saying, this is progress. ... It's not progress," Albergo said.
To try to stop internal mail theft, some of the OIG's recommendations are: more supervision, addressing vacancies and restricting personal items on the workroom floor. USPS did not agree with all recommendations for more security, but OIG says they'll be working together towards a solution.
Meanwhile Albergo is pushing for postal police to have a bigger role after the force was scaled back in 2020.
"The mail theft epidemic is completely out of control, and can postal police stop it? No, we can't stop it, but we could make a significant dent in the areas where deployed," Albergo said.
LINK: uspsoig.gov/reports/semiannual-reports-to-congress/fall-2024-semiannual-report-congress
