USPS doesn’t know if it has enough law enforcement protecting mail and employees

This story was updated 5/31/24 at 10:59 a.m.

The U.S. Postal Service has few processes in place to determine its law enforcement needs, according to a new audit, leaving the mailing agency potentially ill-equipped to manage a surge in crimes aimed at its staff. 

Serious crimes, including robberies and assaults, on letter carriers and other postal workers have surged in recent years, with incidents doubling since 2019. Most of that was driven by robberies outside of USPS property, the Government Accountability Office found, and thieves are increasingly using firearms to take universal keys from letter carriers. 

The spike has elicited outcry from employee groups and lawmakers, as well as new policies from postal management. USPS has hardened many of its blue collection boxes to make them harder to break into and is replacing tens of thousands of the universal "arrow keys'' with an electronic alternative. Postal management also increased its rewards for those who help convict mail thieves, offering up to $250,000 payouts. 

Despite those efforts, GAO faulted USPS and its Postal Inspection Service for failing to maintain formal processes or documentation on its decision-making over how many law enforcement personnel to deploy and where to send them. The inspector in charge in each division conducts a review annually to determine workforce needs, GAO said, examining staffing trends and complaint data. There are few specifics on how that process should occur, however, and those supervisors do not document their approaches. 

The auditors noted USPS and PIS leadership have no way to determine whether division leaders are applying consistent standards as they review their needs. 

PIS similarly has never spelled out what should comprise a workforce review for its postal police force. Whereas postal inspectors conduct investigations anywhere crime occurs, its police officers generally remain at select facilities to provide security services. The Postal Service last completed an assessment of its police force in 2011, only doing so after management issued a directive to cut its officers. 

PIS now employs 367 individuals in its police force, 37% below its authorized level. It has maintained around 1,400 inspectors fairly consistently since 2017, though the number has dipped to 1,228 and is 14% below the authorized level. While local PIS leaders make assessments of their employment needs, GAO noted the final decision on the inspector staffing levels falls to USPS management. 

“Without current information about its postal police workforce and the volume and types of crimes it encounters, the Inspection Service does not have reasonable assurance that its current staffing levels are appropriate to meet its mission and USPS security workforce needs,” GAO said. 

PIS said it has paused existing efforts to assess its law enforcement needs in 2020 as a result of network overhauls being pursued by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy as it waited to see what future needs might entail. It plans to stand up a working group to conduct a security force assessment this year. 

It is also in a drawn-out dispute with the postal police officers, whose union has sharply criticized the agency for instructing its members not to conduct patrols. An arbitrator ruled USPS must revoke the 2020 memorandum that set that policy, but the two sides are now fighting over how to implement any potential change. 

GAO implored USPS to more carefully measure and document its law enforcement needs, calling it particularly important as crime against postal workers is rising. PIS management agreed to do so for both its inspector and police workforces.  

“Given the recent upward trend in serious crime against USPS employees and property, ensuring that the Inspection Service aligns its law enforcement resources with security needs is increasingly important,” GAO said. 

Michael Martel, a PIS spokesman, said while the agency agreed to institute changes, it maintained confidence its division chiefs were making well-informed staffing decisions. 

"These executives are running the day-to-day operations in each division and are acutely aware of the staffing needs, as well as criminal and security trends in their local areas." Martel said. 

While the USPS inspector general found the agency’s initial rollout of its “project safe delivery” was failing to deliver results, the Postal Service said earlier this year it had increased arrests associated with letter carrier robberies by 73% in fiscal 2024 by aggressively targeting the cases. It has surged personnel to various cities with high crime rates and continued to send out its improved equipment. 

DeJoy in March decried a ruling that led to a 30-day sentence for an individual found guilty of robbing a letter carrier at gunpoint. 

“This sends a concerning message of encouragement to our nation’s criminals and a message of disregard to our loyal public servants, who deserve better protection and reassurance that the law will take crimes against them seriously,” the postmaster general said. 

This story was updated with additional comment from the Postal Inspection Service.