ST. LOUIS – The U.S. Postal Service is under fire for allegedly sidelining its own police force amid a national mail theft crisis. 

FOX 2’s recent investigation into a growing check-washing scam spurred a tip from the national president of the Postal Police Officer’s Association.

“The postal service has a police force it won’t use. It’s amazing,” Frank Albergo told FOX 2.

Albergo is also a postal police officer, but he spoke to FOX 2 in his capacity as association president.

”We are confined to postal property right now—during a mail theft epidemic—and make no mistake, there is a postal crime wave happening,” Albergo said.

He saw our Fox Files report on the mail scam that’s costing residents millions. We demonstrated how easy it is for criminals to wash a check and write it out to whatever they want.

Our report led to a flood of viewers claiming they were also scammed—and Albergo claiming there’s a reason for it.

“Criminals are infiltrating the postal service to steal mail,” Albergo said, adding, “They work at the postal service as a temporary employee for a few months and their sole mission is to steal mail. I mean, they’re working for gangs. The postal service is under attack.”

The Postal Inspection Service declined an on-camera interview but a field rep sent us a statement that said in part, “…removing those officers from postal service property, where a significant concentration of employees and mail exists, would put at risk not only postal facilities, but the large concentration of employees and customers who use those facilities every day.”

FOX 2 has more from association president Albergo and his insider concerns in an extended report on our new smart tv app — download FOX 2 STL Plus from the app store.

Here is the Postal Inspection Service’s full statement:

“Various public statements made by the Postal Police Officers Association supporting the claim that the Postal Service is actively preventing the utilization of a uniformed federal police force are legally and factually incorrect. Postal Police officers (PPOs) are assigned to specific facilities because the Postal Inspection Service has determined that these facilities require a high level of security that can be provided by the presence of uniformed, trained, and armed officers.

At key facilities in 20 major metropolitan areas, PPOs are deployed to provide security, enforce order, respond to medical emergencies, and act as a deterrent to criminals or employees who may wish to compromise the mailstream or potentially harm the people inside. These postal facilities are the

workplaces of thousands of postal employees, and they process millions of pieces of mail and packages every day.

Removing those officers from Postal Service property, where a significant concentration of employees and mail exists, would put at risk not only postal facilities, but the large concentration of employees and customers who use those facilities every day.

Additionally, there have been questions regarding the jurisdictional authority of PPOs. Contrary to the assertions made, neither any court nor arbitrator has contested the Postal Service’s interpretation that the law enforcement authority of PPOs is confined to the protection of Postal Service real property. This conclusion has remained unchallenged. In fact, in 2020, a federal court affirmed, in response to opposing claims, that the Postal Service’s determination of PPOs’ jurisdiction was a reasonable interpretation of the law.

And, even if the law permitted PPOs to exercise jurisdiction beyond the boundaries of the Postal Service’s property, relocating these officers from Postal Service property, as suggested by some, would not only jeopardize the security of the postal facilities but also pose a risk to the employees and customers who utilize these facilities daily.

The Postal Inspection Service utilizes postal inspectors, along with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners, to investigate and prevent postal-related crimes both on and off Postal Service property. Postal inspectors and PPOs are different positions within the Postal Inspection Service, with differing statutory authority. While both are essential to keeping employees, customers, and the mailstream safe – their roles and responsibilities are vastly different. While PPOs protect postal employees and customers at postal facilities, postal inspectors work diligently to ensure the integrity of the mailstream and combat postal-related crimes nationwide, especially robberies of letter carriers.

The Postmaster General and the Chief Postal Inspector have taken significant action to counter mail crimes—including the launch of Project Safe Delivery in May 2023. The program’s proactive approach has led to a significant decrease in robbery and mail theft incidents. The program’s robust measures have led to hundreds of arrests for Postal robberies and mail theft. For instance, the number of robberies has decreased 27% Fy 2023 to Fy 2024. Additional information on Project Safe Delivery can be found at Project Safe Delivery – United States Postal Inspection Service (uspis.gov).”