The Postal Police Officers Association filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Postal Service and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Monday alleging “the U.S. mail and postal personnel are receiving less protection” and are “in increased danger” as a result of new orders, marking the latest in a string of changes implemented by DeJoy that have caused controversy.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy (R) arrives for a meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows at the US Capitol in Washington, DC on August 5, 2020. (Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
Postal Police Officers Association (“PPOA”) states for its complaint against the United States Postal Service (“USPS” or “Postal Service”) as follows: 1. This is an action for an injunction. The Postal Service caused this dispute on August 25, 2020 when it directed its police officers nationwide to end all mail-protection and other law-enforcement activity away from the confines of postal real estate. The Postal Service ordered its police officers to stop investigating and preventing mail theft and mail tampering, crimes against postal employees, and all community-policing efforts except within post office buildings. Pursuant to its collective bargaining agreement with the Postal Service, the PPOA filed a national-level grievance on September 8, 2020 which, if not resolved, will go to decision before a neutral arbitrator.
ugust 25, 2020, the Postal Service announced a unilateral change through a National Communication to all Postal Divisions. The Postal Service declared that Postal Police Officers’ legal authority was limited only to the realproperty of the Postal Service. It wrote: “PPOs may not exercise this law enforcement authority in contexts unrelated to Postal Service premises.” It declared that Postal Police Officers should no longer be assigned to investigate or prevent mail theft or protection of letter carriers. 9. The Postal Service’s sudden change is unwarranted, impermissible, and contrary to the language of the statute and also to collective bargaining promises it has made to the officers’ union. The new policy puts PPOs and other postal employees in increased danger and increases the likelihood of criminal activity against Postal Service employees and the U.S. mail. The Court should enjoin it
Key Facts
On August 25, Postal Police workers were informed of a new directive by Deputy Chief Inspector David Bowers that said officers “no longer had any law-enforcement authority, whatsoever, except when they are physically stationed on real estate owned or leased by the Postal Service,” reversing officers’ previous ability to protect U.S. mail and postal workers off of USPS premises.
Postal Police officers previously would go off-site “to protect letter carriers and the mail in dangerous areas, to stop mail theft from carriers and from collection boxes, and to insure the safety of the mail at airports,” the lawsuit explains, noting officers responded to an increase in attacks on mail carriers and crimes like “mail fishing” to steal mail from USPS collection boxes.
While Postal Inspectors have similar law-enforcement duties to Postal Police officers, they typically work only during business hours, the lawsuit notes, making Postal Police officers, who work “around the clock,” the only ones capable of handling issues that happen outside of regular business hours.
The directive allegedly violated a collective bargaining agreement between the postal police union and the USPS, in which the USPS is required to give the union at least 60 days advance notice of proposed changes and unilateral actions that affect “postal police officers’ wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment” are prohibited.
The directive follows a string of changes implemented by DeJoy, a GOP fundraiser and Trump donor, which have largely been cost-cutting measures undertaken to address the USPS’s “dire” financial condition but have resulted in issues like nationwide mail delays and concerns over mail-in voting.
Cannot unilaterally change what is mandated by an act of congress.
18 USC 3061
(c)
(1)The Postal Service may employ police officers for duty in connection with the protection of property owned or occupied by the Postal Service or under the charge and control of the Postal Service, and persons on that property, including duty in areas outside the property to the extent necessary to protect the property and persons on the property.
(2)With respect to such property, such officers shall have the power to—
(A)enforce Federal laws and regulations for the protection of persons and property;
(B)carry firearms; and
(C)make arrests without a warrant for any offense against the Unites [1] States committed in the presence of the officer or for any felony cognizable under the laws of the United States if the officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing a felony.
(3)With respect to such property, such officers may have, to such extent as the Postal Service may by regulations prescribe, the power to—
(A)serve warrants and subpoenas issued under the authority of the United States; and
(B)conduct investigations, on and off the property in question, of offenses that may have been committed against property owned or occupied by the Postal Service or persons on the property.
Ok folks, we ALL swore to uphold and defend the US Constitution, and the President and Postmaster General are obviously not living up to their promise, but the rest of us must, to uphold the system of Democracy our forebears fought for and died to preserve.