In the battle against a surge of assaults on letter carriers, Congress is stepping up with new legislation aimed at restoring the patrolling authority of postal police on city streets—a power stripped away during Postmaster Louis DeJoy's tenure in 2020. The proposed "Postal Police Reform Act," introduced to the U.S. Senate by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, seeks to reverse a directive that has seen crimes against postal workers escalate dramatically. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, assaults against postal workers have jumped a staggering 231% over the last three years.
Meanwhile, postal employees are bearing the brunt of this wave of violence, with some Chicago-based carriers being victimized in the first week on their route, as noted by Elise Foster, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers' Chicago branch, in an April interview. Alone on the streets and without the presence of postal police, these carriers face increasing dangers, particularly when confronted for their master "arrow" keys, which criminals covet to commit mail theft and check fraud. Chicago's streets, once patrolled by postal police, now witness these officers relegated solely to post office premises, leaving carriers vulnerable and local police departments burdened with an additional load, ABC7 reported.
Senator Durbin has condemned DeJoy's directive as "dangerous," emphasizing that "Letter carriers deserve to feel safe while on the job." With USPS hurling accusations of falsehood against Durbin's claims, they tout their Project Safe Delivery initiative launched in May. However, a stark rise in assaults and shortages of mail delivery in some areas of Chicago dubbed "mail deserts," speak to the urgency of USPS's situation, per the Chicago Sun-Times.
In response to escalating postal crime, DeJoy only recently termed the situation a "sustained crime wave," initiating higher rewards for information on criminal cases. The USPS touts more secure blue collection boxes with electronic locks as a solution, despite postal police patrol not making it to the list of proposed measures. Despite these efforts, a September audit report obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times criticizes USPS's failure to set meaningful goals in combating mail theft, along with a lack of specialized training for inspectors tackling such cases.
The Postal Police Reform Act, on its way through the legislative channels of power, holds potential promise for an amendment that would permit postal police to return to the front where their watchful eyes once deterred criminal activity—hoping to curb a crime issue that seemingly burgeons without their street-bound stewardship.
