[FedCom] US Postal Service

Thu, 11 Sep 2003 19:36:55 -0400

Here is the story about the Postal Police !!

12 postal police jobs eliminated

Inspection service to absorb duties

By Dana Treen
Times-Union staff writer

In September, the U.S. Postal Service police force in Jacksonville will be
dissolved in a reorganization that will also affect postal police units in
six other cities as part of a nationwide reorganization.

Nina Schwartz, a postal inspector in Jacksonville, said postal police duties
in Jacksonville will be absorbed by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and
local police and through the use of surveillance cameras. In some locations,
unarmed private security services will be used as replacements.

"Hopefully, we will not see that much of a change," Schwartz said. "The
calls that go to them will go to us."

She said nationwide, the redeployment will affect 90 officers in a service
of about 1,200.

The decision will eliminate the jobs of a dozen officers in Jacksonville and
is being criticized by union officials who say it is the wrong step in a
post-9/11 era marked by increased security in other areas of government.

"We seem to be the only agency that is downsizing in the last couple of
years," said Tammy Michelson, an official in the union's national office.
Postal police officers carry firearms and have arrest powers on post office
property and routinely apprehend suspects, she said. Jacksonville has had a
postal police unit since 1973.

Jacksonville officers would have to move out of state to stay in the police
service but can take different jobs within the postal service, postal
officials said.

Postal police in Jacksonville are stationed at the main postal facility on
Kings Road and not at individual post offices, though they can be called to
neighborhood locations to answer calls.

The Sept. 19 closings in Jacksonville, Hartford, Conn., Buffalo, N.Y.,
Birmingham, Ala., Denver and Seattle are the result of an assessment of U.S.
facilities to determine their security needs, Schwartz said.

She declined to detail the criteria for the assessment in Jacksonville, but
a U.S. Postal Inspection Service Web site said the inspection team found
significant deficiencies at almost every site. Closed circuit cameras
weren't working, security turnstiles at employee entrances were inoperable
and other security measures were disregarded at sites where security gates
and doors were found wired and propped open.

Bert Hernandez, a postal police officer since 1987 and a union
representative in Jacksonville, said those problems were never found in
Jacksonville.

"They never found anything conclusive to say why we are not needed here," he
said.

Hernandez said officers deal with transients and make drug arrests at the
post office's general mail center on Kings Road, a 24-hour-a-day facility in
a high-crime area of the city.

They also guard the bulk mail center on Commonwealth Avenue and special
deliveries.

"We do a lot of high-value escort," he said. "It could be stocks, it could
be diamonds."

The force also provides security at the air mail facility at Jacksonville
International Airport.

Postal police salaries start at $30,000 a year, Hernandez said. With
overtime, he said, officers in Jacksonville are making between $40,000 and
$50,000 a year.

To stay in the postal police agency, officers are being offered relocations
to seven facilities in the Northeast, California or Chicago. Miami, the only
other Florida city with a postal police force, is not taking transfers.

Postal Officer Robert Bangi is looking into a Department of Defense job.

"I've got my truck up for sale because I need some cash reserves," he said.
Bangi said he and his wife have three children, including one at college and
one entering pre-kindergarten.

"There's been days when I couldn't go to sleep." he said. "I've given them
loyal service."

Staff writer Dana Treen can be reached at (904) 359-4091 or via e-mail at
dtreenjacksonville.com.

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----- Original Message -----
From: "william moore iv" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2003 7:25 PM
Subject: Re: [FedCom] US Postal Service

> No these are permanent closure of the regular offices.All responses to
> alarms will now be covered by the local police and Postal
Inspectors.Private
> security guard companies will handle the security for the Jacksonville
Main
> Post Office and Bulk Mail facility.The Police Officers were offered
> Transfers to Washington State (I think) or they could find another job
> within the Postal Service (Mailman or sorter).
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "swm239" <[email protected]>
> To: <[email protected]>
> Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2003 7:16 PM
> Subject: Re: [FedCom] US Postal Service
>
>
> > Hi all,  Is this a temporary closure for a day or two for some reason or
> is
> > this permanent?   These 2 cities are very large and seems weird they
would
> > close them, or possibly a plant and not a regular office?
> > Thanks,
> > Scott
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "william moore iv" <[email protected]>
> > To: <[email protected]>
> > Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2003 6:02 PM
> > Subject: Re: [FedCom] US Postal Service
> >
> >
> > > They are also closing the Jacksonville,Fl. Postal Police Unit down.
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: "*Bill" <[email protected]>
> > > To: "FedCom" <[email protected]>
> > > Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2003 6:58 PM
> > > Subject: [FedCom] US Postal Service
> > >
> > >
> > > > FW: 11084711 Broadcast Message
> > > > EFFECTIVE SEPTEMBER 19, 2003, U.S. POSTAL POLICE LOCATED IN
HARTFORD,
> CT
> > > > WILL CLOSE ALL OPERATIONS.
> > > >
> > > > FOR U.S. POSTAL INSPECTOR CONTACT FOR EMERGENCIES AND AFTER NORMAL
> > > BUSINESS
> > > > HOURS PLEASE TELEPHONE 1-800-300-3492 OR 617-654-5916.  (Boston)
> > > >
> > > >  CONNECTICUT LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES AND POLICE DEPARTMENTS
REQUIRING
> > > > POSTAL INSPECTOR CONTACT OR ASSISTANCE DURING NORMAL BUSINESS HOURS
> > SHOULD
> > > > TELEPHONE OFFICES IN WALLINGFORD,CT AT TEL# 203-294-6760 OR IN NEW
> > HAVEN,
> > > CT
> > > > AT TEL# 203-782-7018.
> > > >
> > > >  WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS AND VERMONT AGENCIES AND POLICE DEPARTMENTS
MAY
> > > > CONTACT POSTAL INSPECTORS AT THE SPRINGFIELD, MA OFFICE DURING
NORMAL
> > > > BUSINESS HOURS BY CALLING TEL# 413-731-0551
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > hMMM....looks like a loss to some radio traffic in the area as well
> > then.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > _______________________________________________
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> > > > [email protected]
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> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > FedCom mailing list
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> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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>