Private security guards were reported at a Denver postal sorting facility as Colorado prepares for its general-election ballot mailing. The report discusses the deployment.
Guards Arrive Ahead Of Colorado Ballot Mailing
According to Colorado Public Radio, private security guards are at the Denver facility. The supplied account does not establish the guards' composition, whether they augment career postal police, the specific deployment locations, or the reason USPS selected them.
The timing is notable regardless. The article's account does not establish when new sorting machines would come online or whether they would affect jobs at the facility. It also does not establish the guards' arrival date or specific assignments.
Jonathan Smith is the American Postal Workers Union's national president. He was elected after the 2025 election results were certified.
Smith previously led the New York Metro Area Postal Union before winning the national presidency, according to the Colorado Postal Workers Union.
A Policy Fight Involving Career Postal Police
Part of the broader policy dispute involving career postal police traces back to a fight that has simmered for years. The Postal Police Officers Association has been locked in federal court litigation with USPS since August 2020 over agency directives concerning where officers may exercise law-enforcement authority, according to Justia Law. The August 2020 Bowers memorandum stated that postal police could not exercise law-enforcement authority away from postal premises without prior approval, while handbook exceptions covered hot pursuit, mobile patrol, escort protection, and citizen's arrests.
The guard deployment also comes amid attention to postal crime nationally. USPS's Project Safe Delivery initiative, launched in May 2023, addresses postal crime.
Colorado election officials manage mail ballot distribution statewide, with ballot drop boxes opening October 12 and in-person voting centers opening October 19, according to the Colorado Secretary of State. The supplied source says every active voter will receive a ballot and gives an October 2 to October 9 mailing schedule.
A Tense Local Backdrop of Mail Crime
The guard deployment follows USPS's offer of a $150,000 reward after an armed robbery of a Denver mail carrier, a case reported by Hoodline. The robbery occurred Friday morning, September 11, 2026. Thieves often target master keys.
Legal Fight Over Mail Ballots Looms Over the Deployment
The guard rollout also unfolds against a bigger legal backdrop. On September 14, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order blocking USPS from enforcing new mail ballot delivery restrictions nationwide under a March 2026 executive order from President Donald Trump, according to Votebeat's reporting as republished by Salon. The Trump administration had sought new rules affecting USPS mail-ballot delivery, rules that states challenged as potentially disenfranchising voters.
Colorado voters will also weigh in directly on mail ballot security this November. The Colorado Secretary of State certified Initiative 362, also known as Amendment 84, for the ballot in August, asking voters whether mail-in ballot envelopes should require an identification number rather than relying on signature verification alone, as Hoodline reported. Proponents gathered signatures to place the measure before voters.
