HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — 7/5/21 – A group that feels they could make a dent in the mail theft problem said they are not being allowed to.

Frank Albergo, president of the Postal Police Officer’s Association, said officers have been sidelined by USPS since August 2020.

“Essentially, the postal service defunded the postal police force,” Albergo said.

He said he has not gotten a straight answer why but said it came not long after the union secured a raise for the officers.

“Now we are confined to postal property,” Albergo said. “It makes absolutely no sense.”

He said for years officers were out on the streets. Albergo said they acted like street cops would in other law enforcement agencies. Postal inspectors acted as the detectives.

Now, Albergo said they are doing foot patrols at the post offices, which he said is important, but is not where the majority of the crime is happening.

“Carriers are being assaulted at an alarming rate,” Albergo said. “Trucks are being broken into. Mail is being stolen out of blue collection boxes. Packages are being stolen off of people’s doorsteps and the response was, ‘Hey, we don’t want postal police out on the street anymore.'”