Desperate measures

And they don't care what you think about it.

An order by the U.S. Postal Service to pull its uniformed police officers off city streets has sparked a legal battle pitting it against a police union, when the agency is already under scrutiny for delivery delays in a presidential election that could hang on mail-in ballots.

The agency’s unilateral order ended daily patrols meant to prevent robberies of blue collection boxes and mail vehicles, and has left letter carriers without escorts on unsafe routes in some of the nation’s biggest cities.

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Mail thieves, in the past, often targeted mail for credit cards and checks. Now, the postal police officers said the fear is that thieves also will get ballots, which could be ditched.

The union representing the officers filed a lawsuit last month in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking an emergency reversal of the management order, noting the need to “ensure the integrity of the mail.” The court hasn’t ruled on the request, and the Justice Department has asked the federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing, among other things, that the court lacks jurisdiction.

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Frank Albergo, president of the Postal Police Officers Association, said the order to stand down, coming so close to the election, is especially concerning. “If I was going to undermine public trust in the mail, one of the first things I would do is pull postal police off the street,” he said.

The Aug. 25 order to pull back the police came a day after Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a major donor to the Republican Party, told a congressional oversight committee that he would hold off on further changes to the Postal Service.

  WSJ