Monday, December 30, 2024
Here’s how the Inspection Service helped protect Election Mail
Agents responded to calls and emails concerning threats
In the runup to Election Day, the Postal Inspection Service maintained an election operations center to safeguard the nation’s Election Mail.
Operating from Nov. 1-9 at USPS headquarters in Washington, DC, the center was staffed around the clock by Inspection Service employees who responded to calls, emails and reports from other law enforcement agencies concerning threats to Election Mail.
“The election operations center helped us work criminal investigations and security and prevention efforts simultaneously, and to our fullest ability,” said Chief Postal Inspector Gary Barksdale.
The operations center was part of the Postal Service’s broader effort to deliver for the nation during this year’s general election. The organization also implemented extraordinary measures, including additional pickups, extra deliveries, special lines for customers dropping off ballots at Post Offices and employing special features on processing equipment to expedite and enhance ballot delivery.
A recent report shows USPS processed 99.22 million ballots for last month’s general election, with 99.88 percent delivered from voters to election officials within seven days.
On average, completed ballots were delivered from voters to election officials within one day.
In addition to the operations center at headquarters, postal inspectors helped staff emergency operations centers at the FBI and the Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency, as well as at various state-level operations centers.
“We worked closely with our law enforcement partners to swiftly respond to and investigate any criminal or security incidents involving Election Mail,” said Brendan Donahue, an assistant postal inspector in charge for criminal investigations.
The Inspection Service emphasized that tampering with any mail, including Election Mail, is a federal crime and anyone caught doing so could serve time in prison.
“The Postal Inspection Service takes our role in maintaining the integrity of the vote-by-mail process as critically important work, and a sacred duty,” Barksdale said.
Heroes
These employees saved lives — and money
They helped customers escape car fires, foiled scams and even rescued a parachuter who landed in a lake
Postal Service employees serve as the eyes and ears of their communities — as Link’s “Heroes” column demonstrated throughout 2024.
Among them: Danny Lara Jr., a Waterford, CA, rural carrier who noticed a 91-year-old customer’s mail piling up and asked the local sheriff’s department to check on her. The woman’s nephew later wrote a letter to the local Post Office thanking Lara for his time and attention.
“Danny is much more than a mail carrier to my aunt and family,” he wrote. “Danny has served his community beyond just delivering the mail.”
Another letter carrier, Keith Minchillo, came to the aid of an infant who had fallen 10 feet from an open window in Woonsocket, RI.
Other employees helped reunite customers with lost money, or prevented them from losing it in the first place.
Carolyn Norton, a McKinney, TX, rural carrier, was driving to work when she saw $20 bills flying around. She pulled over and safely collected as much of the money as possible, then called 911.
Police later determined the money — totaling $10,000 — belonged to a homeless veteran and returned it to him.
Subrena Simpson, a Gardner, MA, retail associate, saved a customer from losing $29,500 in a fake sweepstakes, while Benton, MS, Postmaster Chris Broyles helped save a customer from losing $32,000 in a bitcoin scam.
Other employees provided roadside assistance — sometimes in dramatic situations.
Tesfaye Deyasso, a St. Louis Park, MN, letter carrier, took part in a group effort to free a driver from a car fire, while Capitol Heights, MD, Postal Inspector David Starks Sr. got students to safety after he witnessed a fiery crash involving a school bus and another vehicle.
When Skyler Wilburg, an Albertson, NY, city carrier assistant, saw an SUV begin rolling away because the driver had failed to properly put it in park, Wilburg jumped into the moving vehicle and stopped it.
Meanwhile, Ian McMartin, a Ware, MA, letter carrier, was kayaking on a lake when he saw a skydiver becoming entangled in his parachute and struggling in the water.
McMartin and a colleague, Glen Goodwin, paddled to the parachuter and got him to safety.
“Luckily, the skydiver didn’t sustain any injuries and recovered from the incident,” Goodwin said.
Check out the “Heroes” archive for more stories about Postal Service employees who perform heroic acts.
Week in Review
Here’s what Link covered Dec. 22-28
The holiday rush and a few strolls down memory lane were highlights
The Postal Service entered holiday rush mode last week — and Link was there to cover it.
We told you about the organization’s latest milestone deliveries, including the 6 billionth mailpiece of the holiday season, delivered by Adelio Gallucci, a New Haven, CT, letter carrier.
Link also reported on other employees who did their part to ensure a successful peak season, such as Tonya Ferguson, a Columbus, OH, mail processing clerk.
“It’s very fast paced,” she said. “You are trying to make sure you have all the equipment you need to work successfully.”
Link also told you about Christmas’s origins as a federal holiday and new biographies of two former postmasters general — Joseph Habersham and John A.J. Creswell — and we took a walk down memory lane, looking back at highlights from the “Off the Clock,” “People” and “Heroes” columns.
Fly flags at half-staff to honor Carter
All Postal Service facilities should fly the U.S. flag at half-staff to honor former President Jimmy Carter, who died Dec. 29.
Flags should be flown at half-staff until sunset Wednesday, Jan. 29.
To fly the flag at half-staff, hoist the flag to the peak for an instant and then lower it to the half-staff position. The flag should be raised to the peak again before it’s lowered for the day.
For additional information, refer to the Postal Service’s guidelines on U.S. flag display and maintenance.
USPS releases yearly report to Congress
The Postal Service has released its Annual Report to Congress for fiscal year 2024.
Highlights of the report, which covers Oct. 1, 2023-Sept. 30, 2024, include:
• Total mail and package volume of nearly 112.5 billion pieces delivered to more than 168 million addresses;
• A 1.5 percent increase in total revenue, including investment interest; and
• An uptick in the number of routes to 235,461, up by more than 1,000 from 2023.
The report also includes introductory comments from Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and Roman Martinez IV, the USPS Board of Governors chairman during fiscal 2024, and can be found on usps.com’s About USPS page.
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Here’s how the Inspection Service helped protect Election Mail
-
Heroes
These employees saved lives — and money
They helped customers escape car fires, foiled scams and even rescued a parachuter who landed in a lake
-
Week in Review
Here’s what Link covered Dec. 22-28
The holiday rush and a few strolls down memory lane were highlights
-
Brief
Fly flags at half-staff to honor Carter
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Brief
USPS releases yearly report to Congress