An initiative was launched two years ago in the wake of an increase in mail theft and crimes against postal employees. Image: Matt Gush/Shutterstock.com
A group of House Democrats has tasked GAO with issuing a report on the status of the Postal Service’s Joint Project Safe Delivery Initiative, saying that while the USPS has reported “encouraging progress,” an outside review is needed.
“We remain concerned about the safety of Postal Service employees and Postal Service facilities, and believe that as we pass the two-year anniversary of this initiative, an outside evaluation is necessary and prudent to provide transparency and accountability about the efforts made thus far,” said the letter, led by Rep. Kweisi Mfume of Maryland, ranking Democrat on the House subcommittee on government operations.
The initiative was launched in the wake of an increase in mail theft and crimes against postal employees—notably an increase in robberies of letter carriers, some involving firearms. In many cases robbers were seeking universal arrow keys, which are used to access mailboxes, including collection boxes that contain the mail of multiple households.
Among other steps, the initiative includes installing higher-security collection boxes nationwide, focusing first on high security risk areas; replacing arrow key locks with electronic locks that require multi-factor authentication to open; more training of employees on safety and security; improved collaboration with other law enforcement entities; and initiatives against change of address fraud and counterfeit postage.
While the USPS has cited progress on those steps—including a drop of 27 percent in robberies of carriers reported earlier this year—”amidst a record of failure and mismanagement in addressing crimes against postal employees, an outside review is needed to take an accurate accounting of where progress has been made, where more needs to be done, and how to set Project Safe Delivery back on the right track if necessary,” the letter said.
With the recent selection of former FedEx board member and Waste Management Corporation CEO David Steiner to become Postmaster General, “It is imperative that incoming Postal leadership understands the current state of mail theft and fraud so that they may implement nonpartisan, data-informed solutions at the Postal Service,” it added.
The letter asked GAO to assess the current state of postal-related crimes, including frequency and any emerging trends; the implementation status of Project Safe Delivery’s components; and how the USPS is measuring the effects and to what extent goals are being met.
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