Chicago letter carriers face bullets and beatings while postal service sidelines police

CHICAGO — As a little girl in the 1980s, Khalalisa Norris aspired to become a letter carrier. “They can, with a gun, do whatever they want.” Norris, union leaders and criminologists tell Raw Story the solution is simple: The United States Postal Inspection Service — the law enforcement arm of the Postal Service — should use its uniformed postal police officers on mail routes to deter criminals. If they're involved in criminal activity, we're not hands off.” Postal police officer patrols used to deter criminals while letter carriers delivered their routes, five postal service employees told Raw Story. “The community knew you just don't mess with the mailman or mail lady.” Legal tug-of-war between the postal service and union The Postal Service said the “legal jurisdiction” for postal police officers did not change in 2020 as a part of the statute reinterpretation, acknowledging that some divisions used to use the police officers off-property, according to Michael Martel, a postal inspector and national public information officer for the United States Postal Inspection Service. A separate class action suit was filed against Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in January 2024, alleging that DeJoy “discriminated against Black and Hispanic postal police officers by failing to provide them with the same access to the Postal Service’s Self-Referral Counseling Program as postal inspectors.” Albergo said at least 80 percent of postal police officers are “black and brown.” What is the Postal Service doing to curb crime against letter carriers?