United States Postal Inspection Service

The United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), or the Postal Inspectors, is the law enforcement arm of the United States Postal Service. It supports and protects the U.S. Postal Service, its employees, infrastructure, and customers by enforcing the laws that defend the nation's mail system from illegal or dangerous use. Its jurisdiction covers any "crimes that may adversely affect or fraudulently use the U.S. Mail, the postal system or postal employees." With roots going back to the late 18th century, the USPIS is the oldest continually operating federal law enforcement agency.

There are roughly 200 federal crimes that can be committed which involve the mail. Thus, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service's activities are markedly broad and ever-changing. In 2021, Postal Inspectors made 5,141 arrests leading to more than 3,700 convictions, mostly involving mail theft, mail fraud and prohibited narcotic mailings. The growth in illegal narcotics has resulted in 19,000 arrests and the seizure of $18 million in drug proceeds since 2010. In 2022 alone, Postal Inspectors performed over 5,300 seizures that resulted in more than 17,000 pounds of illicit drugs being taken off the streets.

In fiscal year 2014, USPIS had 2,376 field employees, a decline of 44.7% from fiscal year 1995. As of 2019, there are about 1,200 postal inspectors, who are authorized to carry weapons, make arrests, execute federal search warrants, and serve subpoenas.

History

The Postal Inspection Service has the oldest origins of any federal law enforcement agency in the United States. It traces its roots back to 1772 when colonial Postmaster General Benjamin Franklin first appointed a "surveyor" to regulate and audit the mail. Thus, the Service's origins—in part—predate the Declaration of Independence, and therefore the United States itself.

As Franklin was appointed Postmaster General under the Second Continental Congress, his system continued.
One of Franklin's first acts as Postmaster General was to appoint William Goddard as the first Postal Surveyor of the newly founded American postal system, in charge of inspecting the integrity and security of postal routes, regulating post offices, and auditing their accounts. A letter from Franklin to Goddard, dated August 7, 1775, authorized a total of $170.00 for Goddard to carry out these duties, and so August 7 is recognized as the "birthday" of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

In 1801, the title of "surveyor" was changed to ''special agent''. In 1830, the special agents were organized into the ''Office of Instructions and Mail Depredations''. The Postal Inspection Service was the first federal law enforcement agency to use the title special agent for its officers. Congress changed this title to ''post office inspector'' in 1880 to differentiate the federal postal agents from the multitude of "special agents" employed by railway and stagecoach companies. In 1954 the title is changed once again to ''postal inspector'' to reflect their relationship to all phases of the postal services and the U.S. Mail, instead of only the Post Offices.

For some time, one of their primary duties was the enforcement of obscenity prohibitions under the Comstock Act, named after Postal Inspector Anthony Comstock.

Jurisdiction and activities

As fact-finding and investigative agents, postal inspectors are sworn federal law enforcement officers who carry firearms, make arrests, and serve federal search warrants and subpoenas. Inspectors work closely with U.S. attorneys, other law enforcement agencies, and local prosecutors to investigate postal cases and prepare them for court. For example, on all international mail, postal inspectors work closely with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); while on domestic mail, postal inspectors work closely with state and local law enforcement agencies. There are approximately 1,200 postal inspectors stationed throughout the United States and abroad who enforce more than 200 federal laws covering investigations of crimes that adversely affect or fraudulently use the U.S. Mail and postal system.

The USPIS has responsibility to safeguard over 600,000 Postal Service employees and billions of pieces of mail transported worldwide yearly by air, land, rail, and sea.

USPIS was at one time the only investigative agency of the Postal Service; however, with the creation of the USPS Office of Inspector General in 1996, they assumed many duties previously carried out by the USPIS. The USPS OIG conducts independent audits and investigations. Audits of postal programs and operations help to determine whether the programs and operations are efficient and cost-effective. Investigations help prevent and detect fraud, waste, and misconduct and have a deterrent effect on postal crimes.

The OIG primarily took over the Postal Inspection Service's audit function, as well as investigations of fraud (against the USPS), waste, and abuse.

Since the September 11, 2001, attacks, the USPIS has also investigated several cases where ricin, anthrax, and other toxic substances were sent through the mail. Although the USPIS has a wide jurisdiction, USPIS investigations can be categorized into these seven types of investigative teams and functions:

# Fraud: These types of investigation involve crimes that use the mails to facilitate fraud against consumers, business, and government. Federal statutes that surround these types of investigations include mail fraud and other criminal statutes when they are tied to the mails, such as bank fraud, identity theft, credit card fraud, wire fraud, and Internet/computer fraud. Mail fraud is a statute that is used in prosecuting many white collar crimes, including, Ponzi schemes, 419 frauds, and other white collar crimes where the mail was used to facilitate the fraud. This extends to public corruption (under the " Honest Services" provision of the federal fraud statutes). In the 1960s and 70s, inspectors under regional chief postal inspectors, such as Martin McGee, known as "Mr. Mail Fraud," exposed and prosecuted numerous swindles involving land sales, phony advertising practices, insurance ripoffs, and fraudulent charitable organizations using mail fraud charges. McGee is credited with assisting in the conviction of former Illinois governor Otto Kerner on mail fraud charges.
# External Crime and Crime Teams: The External Crimes Function of USPIS is a function that investigates any theft of US mail by non employees, assaults of postal employees, and theft and robberies of postal property. This function also investigates robberies of postal employees and postal facilities, burglaries of postal facilities, and assaults and murders against postal employees. This investigative function focuses on ensuring that the sanctity and trust in the U.S. Mail system is maintained.
# Prohibited Mailing Investigations: Prohibited mailing investigations are USPIS investigations that focus on the prohibited mailing of contraband including: narcotics, precursors, and proceeds; child pornography and other sexually prohibited materials; and hazardous materials to include: mail bombs; and nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. The laundering of narcotics and other criminal proceeds through the use of postal money orders is sometimes categorized under this investigative function.
# Aviation and Homeland Security: USPIS investigations also include the securing and protecting of transportation of US Mail and any risk that might compromise the security of the homeland because of these mails. Security audits are conducted by these teams to ensure that postal service maintains facilities secure from not only theft and robberies but also natural and manmade disasters.
# Revenue Investigations: USPIS investigates cases where fraudulent practices are conducted by business and consumers that mail items without proper postage or with counterfeit postage and indicia. Also included are other crimes that defraud the USPS of revenue. Recently, however, USPIS has indicated that they have little interest in pursuing producers of counterfeit stamps.
# International Investigations and Global Security: This investigative function ensures that international mail is secured and any international business decisions and campaigns remains safe and secure. USPIS maintains investigators in the US and in posts around the world for protection, liaison, and intelligence.
# Joint Task Force Investigations: USPIS participates in joint task force investigations where laws applicable to the mail service are involved. These cases are often wide-ranging and involve every law enforcement agency of the federal government. For example, USPIS participated in the largest count indictment and conviction in NASA history, the Omniplan case, that put seven companies out of business and ended with the conviction of Omniplan owner, Ralph Montijo, on 179 federal crimes.

The Postal Inspection Service's Technical Services Unit (TSU) provides investigative support through the use of new technology and the operations of two national communication centers known as the National Law Enforcement Control Centers (NLECC). In 2003, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement renamed their national communication center, previously known as "Sector" to the "National Law Enforcement Communications Center" (also known as NLECC). USPIS NLECC and ICE NLECC are two independent federal law enforcement radio communications centers that coincidentally share the same acronym and an almost identical name.

USPS Forensic Laboratory

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service first established a crime lab in 1940. Today, the main USPS Forensic Laboratory is located in Dulles, Virginia in a two-story, 44,000-square-foot facility. The lab is staffed by forensic scientists and technical experts and consists of four units: the Questioned Documents Unit, the Fingerprint Unit, the Physical Sciences Unit, and the Digital Evidence Unit. The laboratory is overseen by a laboratory director, and each of the four units is overseen by an assistant laboratory director. There are also four satellite offices, located in New York, Chicago, Memphis, and San Francisco. In 2012, the entire U.S. Postal Inspection Service laboratory system had 65 employees (58 scientific staff and seven administrative staff), mostly based in the main Dulles lab.

Police force

In addition to maintaining a staff of postal inspectors, the Postal Inspection Service has a uniformed force of Postal Police Officers who provide security service at major postal facilities throughout the United States, conduct perimeter security, escort high-value mail shipments, and perform other essential security functions. As of 2018 there were approximately 500 postal police officers. As of 2022 that number has been reduced to less than 400 nationwide.

USPIS Academy

The Postal Inspection Service maintains a law enforcement academy (the Career Development Unit) based in Potomac, Maryland. It is a federally accredited law enforcement academy by the Federal Law Enforcement Training Accreditation.

Killed officers

Fourteen US postal inspectors and postal police officers have died in the line of duty.

Their names have been etched on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial wall and to a Postal Inspection Service plaque at the agency's national headquarters, both located in Washington, D.C.

List of killed officers

The list below details the officer's name and rank, date of death (known as "end of watch") and the cause of death.

#Postal Inspector Charles Fitzgerald, Wednesday, September 23, 1908, Gunfire
#Postal Inspector Elbert Perry Lamberth, Thursday, August 16, 1917, Gunfire
#Postal Inspector in Charge George Washington Daniel, Monday, September 1, 1919, Drowned
#Postal Inspector Levi C. Chance, Wednesday, February 14, 1923, Gunfire (Inadvertent)
#Postal Inspector Walter Richard Ton, Monday, January 10, 1938, Aircraft accident
#Postal Inspector Finton T. McMahon, Tuesday, August 1, 1939, Fall
#Postal Inspector Ernest M. Harkins, Wednesday, January 12, 1949, Gunfire
#Postal Inspector Bruce Orrin Shaffer, Friday, August 31, 1951, Automobile crash
#Investigative Aide Benedetto M. Spizzirri, Monday, March 14, 1960, Gunfire
#Investigative Aide John P. McAuliffe, Monday, March 14, 1960, Gunfire
#Police Officer Michael J. Healy, Sunday, June 21, 1981, Gunfire
#Postal Inspector Terrance M. Asbury, Saturday, February 3, 1990, Automobile crash
#Postal Inspector Robert Francis Jones, Jr., Friday, July 14, 2000, Automobile crash
#Postal Inspector Preston Boyd Parnell, Thursday, July 26, 2012, Automobile crash

Campaigns and Programs

For more than 150 years, Postal Inspectors have pursued criminals who use the mail to defraud victims. Their experience with fraud investigations has encompassed countless variations of schemes from the most simple to highly complex, international frauds. Fraud is a crime that can be reduced or prevented by educating the general public and specific groups, such as the elderly and military veterans. Accordingly, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service has conducted numerous crime prevention campaigns over the years. The following list has been compiled for historical reference.

Active Crime Prevention Campaigns:

Behind the Badge: The Postal Inspection Service exhibit at the National Postal Museum

In 2014, Consumer Fraud Funds were used to create a new consumer-oriented exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum. �
Behind the Badge
” an interactive exhibit, tells the story of the nation’s oldest federal law enforcement agency from its earliest crime fighting endeavors to its cutting edge crime prevention programs.

International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators (IAFCI)

IAFCI is a non-profit international organization, which provides services and shares information about financial fraud, fraud investigation, and fraud prevention methods. IAFCI members consist of law enforcement, banking, and retail/service members that are in the industry. The Postal Inspection Service plays a significant role coordinating and sponsoring training conferences, which are typically attended by several hundred members, drawn from the various sectors mentioned. Training conferences include sessions related to consumer fraud, identity theft, and credit card fraud, as well as banking and credit card industry best practices.

Internet Covert Operations Program

The Postal Inspection Service's Internet Covert Operations Program (iCOP) is a surveillance program that monitors social media, cryptocurrency transactions, and USPS internal systems to facilitate "the identification, disruption, and dismantling of individuals and organizations that use the mail or USPS online tools to facilitate black market Internet trade or other illegal activities". The initiative also claims to assess "threats to Postal Service employees and its infrastructure by monitoring publicly available open source information". It is one of seven functional groups falling under the Postal Inspection Service's wider cybercrime program.

In 2019, iCOP produced over 200 intelligence reports for dissemination among USPIS officers. iCOP intelligence products have led to the seizure of at least $300,000 in cryptocurrency assets.

In April 2021, a leaked bulletin labeled "law enforcement sensitive" was distributed through DHS fusion centers and detailed planned protests on March 20 for the World Wide Rally for Freedom and Democracy. Public exposure of this bulletin raised questions about whether the monitoring of protests and protestors fell under USPIS's area of law enforcement jurisdiction.

According to a 2021 USPIS presentation, obtained by Vice Media Motherboard the iCOP Analytics Team's mission is to, "identify and develop intelligence on targets operating on the clear and dark webs for all Inspection Service investigations. Analytics Team specializes in providing actionable intelligence through cryptocurrency tracking, open source intelligence and social media analysis, geospatial mapping and data visualization, and USPS backend and network data exploitation."

National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW)

Established in 1998, National Consumer Protection Week is a fed­eral program led by the Federal Trade Commission to educate consumers about various types of fraud, including sweepstakes/prize scams, foreign lottery fraud, mail and Internet fraud, identity theft, and work-at-home scams. Since the program’s inception, the Postal Inspection Service has supported NCPW through partnerships with public and private organizations, including the Postal Service Consumer Advocate's Office, AARP, Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Federation of America, Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators, National Association of Attorneys General, and others.

National Crime Victims’ Rights Week

Established in 1981 under the Reagan administration, National Crime Victims’ Rights Week is a federal program led by the Department of Justice (DOJ). The Postal Inspection Service has partnered with the DOJ since the program’s founding, helping to communicate the importance of early intervention and victim services in establishing trust with victims, which begins to restore their hope for healing and recovery.

Operation Protect Veterans (OPV)

In November 2017, AARP Fraud Watch Network and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service jointly announced the launch of Operation Protect Veterans — a national campaign to warn those who have served in the military about scams and fraud schemes that target veterans. AARP and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service warned veterans and their families to be on the lookout for some of the most common schemes and scams directed at veterans. To raise scam awareness among veterans and their families, Operation Protect Veterans utilizes advertising, social media, email messages, brochures, mass mailings, and a website. In a major component of the outreach campaign, printed materials were distributed to over 30,000 Post Offices, AARP’s state offices, senior centers, and public libraries.

Video PSAs

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service created a video public service announcement (PSA) that provided the public important information about COVID scams. Due to the success of this PSA, the concept was expanded and more PSAs were created to cover a wide range of topics from romance scams to smishing scams. These PSAs are available on the Inspection Service’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, an
YouTube
channels, as well as on the USPI
website

Previous Crime Prevention Campaigns:

2 SMRT 4U

In 2006 the Postal Inspection Service created the "2 SMRT 4U" campaign aimed at teenage girls, the group most targeted by online sexual predators. It established the website to educate teens about how to chat and post wisely online. The website has been rebranded NSTeens.org but still provides educational information for teens. For its dedication to protecting children and fighting child exploitation, the United States Department of Justice honored the Postal Inspection Service with its Internet Safety Award.

Badges of the Postal Inspectors

Badges were first issued to all Postal Inspectors in 1922 but they were prohibited from displaying them in public and to only display them in private if all other means of identification have failed. By 1945 the use of badges had become even more stringent and the badge had to be requested on a case-by-case basis. Starting in 1973, badges are once again issued to all Postal Inspectors.

File:United States Postal Inspection Service, Postal Inspector Badge (1900).png, "First edition", used as early as 1900 and as late as 1922.
File:United States Postal Inspection Service, Postal Inspector (1924).png, "Second edition", in use by 1924 and used until the 1940s.
File:United States Postal Inspection Service, Postal Inspector (1940).png, "Third edition", in use between the 1940s and 1973.
File:United States Postal Inspection Service, Postal Inspector (1973).png, "Fourth edition", in use between 1973 and 2000.
File:United States Postal Inspection Service, Postal Inspector (2000).png, "Fifth edition", in use between 2000 and 2022.
File:United States Postal Inspection Service, Postal Inspector (2022).png, "Sixth edition", currently issued (since January of 2022).

See also

* 2001 anthrax attacks
* Anthony Comstock
* Diplomatic Security Service
* Federal Bureau of Investigation
* Federal law enforcement in the United States
* ''The Inspectors'' (TV series)
* Letter bomb
* Mobile Mail-Screening Station
* Plymouth Mail robbery
* White-collar crime

References

External links

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Postal Inspection Service
Organizations based in Washington, D.C.
Organizations established in 1772
United States Postal Service
1772 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies
Specialist law enforcement agencies of the United States
Postal police