WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal police union is suing the United States Postal Service saying they want their officers to be able to be protect mail carriers in the wake of increasing attacks.
While the post office does have its own police force, the USPS previously told the I-Team that they would not be reassigning their postal police officers back to do. Its an assignment they were taken off of in the fall of 2020.
Since then, attacks on letter carriers have been on the rise across the country, including in the Miami Valley. Robbers have been taking arrow keys, or the master key to all the big blue mailboxes.
Monday, the Postal Police Officers Association filed a federal lawsuit against the post office to try and reinstate outside patrols.
The I-Team previously spoke the Frank Albergo, the head of the Postal Police Officers Association. Albergo said the union filed a grievance challenging the 2020 decision limiting their patrol powers and has waited two years for a decision. Despite an arbitrator siding with the union, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service confirmed they wouldn’t be changing the policy.
>> Man facing charges after co-worker stabbed, killed at Englewood factory
Albergo was upset with the decision, which he heard for the first time while talking with the I-Team.
“It’s just a matter of time before somebody gets seriously hurt. And they just refuse to use post office police officers. It’s almost as if they painted themselves in a corner and now they don’t want to look stupid, so they’re going to just say whatever they have to say to prove themselves right,” Albergo said.
So far, the postal service has not responded to the lawsuit.
© 2023 Cox Media Group
