Investigative Reporter Karla Ray first reported earlier this month about the attacks on postal carriers for their master keys. Postal police officers (PPOs) say they used to be able to patrol to stop thefts like this from happening, but in 2020, a judge sided with the United States Postal Service after a memo went out relegating those officers to USPS property.
As investigators continue to try to piece together the organization responsible for a string of attacks and arrow key thefts in Orlando, the union is speaking out, saying incidents like this could have been avoided.
Albergo said data obtained by 9 Investigates, showing at least 2600 mail carrier attacks nationwide from January 2019 through June of this year, isn’t a surprise. That’s because a judge determined in 2020 that the position of the USPS that PPOs should only perform law enforcement duties inside post offices and USPS property was correct. That means no patrols to protect mail carriers, or their universal arrow keys, that provide access to hundreds of pieces of mail in one place.
“They rob the carriers, they get the keys and now they get tons of mail. And then they really start, you know, going to town on washing checks,” Albergo said.