Talk:United States Postal Inspection Service

message: Revised "With responsibility over 700,000 Postal Service employees and billions of pieces of mail transported through air, land, rail and sea world wide a year, and being that the mail is a major part of personal and business communications in the U.S., the USPIS mission is not a small one."
The last two clauses are not neutral and not necessary. Springreturning 07:20, 15 July 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: More NPOV issues. With respect to jurisdiction and mission statement, the article makes it painfully clear that employees come first and customers come last. Guns are banned, agents have to have special authority to carry firearms "on duty", and crimes alleged to have been committed by federal employees are not within the jurisdiction of USPIS // APWU to investigate. They put their time in, they're collecting their wages, and they they have special rights and privileges as federal employees, including the right to refuse service to anyone, deny delivery or confiscate mail for any reason. justinacolmena (talk) 00:46, 29 February 2020 (UTC)
thread_title: NPOV

message: Forgot Zip Code for the Postal inspec tions address  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.141.174.5 (talk) 19:00, 11 November 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Forgot Zip Code for the Postal inspections address

message: This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as start, and the rating on other projects was brought up to start class. BetacommandBot 16:15, 9 November 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: WikiProject class rating

message: Add following subheadings and content to History section:
===18th Century===
The Postal Inspection Service has the oldest origins of any federal law enforcement agency in the United States. It traces its roots back to 1772[6] when colonial Postmaster General Benjamin Franklin first appointed a "surveyor" to regulate and audit the mails. Thus, the Service's origins—in part—predate the Declaration of Independence, and therefore the United States itself.
As Franklin was appointed Postmaster General under the Second Continental Congress, his system continued. One of Franklin's first acts as Postmaster General was to appoint William Goddard as the first Postal Surveyor of the newly founded American postal system, in charge of inspecting the integrity and security of postal routes, regulating post offices, and auditing their accounts. A letter from Franklin to Goddard, dated August 7, 1775, authorized a total of $170.00 for Goddard to carry out these duties,[7] and so August 7 is recognized as the "birthday" of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
Postal surveyors established and protected lines of communication during the American Revolution.[8]
===19th Century===
In 1801, the title of "surveyor" was changed to special agent. The Postal Inspection Service was the first federal law enforcement agency to use the title special agent for its officers.
During the War of 1812, special agents spied on the British fleet and assisted the defense of Washington.[9]
In 1830, the special agents were organized into the Office of Instructions and Mail Depredations. During the American Civil War, special agents established and maintained military post offices and mail routes. After the war, they reestablished mail to the South and investigated a new wave of mail fraud in the post-war period.[10]
For some time, one of their primary duties was the enforcement of obscenity prohibitions under the Comstock Act, named after Postal Inspector Anthony Comstock. Congress changed the title “special agent” to inspector in 1880.
===20th Century===
In 1909, Postal Inspectors arrest 14 members of the Black Hand crime ring. During Prohibition, Postal Inspectors became the first law enforcement officials to carry Thompson submachine guns to discourage potential mail thieves.[11] Inspectors were instrumental in exposing Charles Ponzi as a con artist and swindler.[12]
Postal Inspectors protected valuable shipments, notably the transfer of gold to the U.S. Bullion Depository in Fort Knox, Kentucky in the 1930’s[13] and the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in 1958.[14]
During World War II, Postal Inspectors designed and organized the military mail system servicing U.S. troops serving abroad. This system was so successful, it became the basis for the modern military mail system.[15]
The first female Postal Inspectors joined the force in 1971, making the agency one of the first federal law enforcement agencies to hire female agents.[16]
The Child Protection Act passed in 1984 expanded the duties of Inspectors to include investigating distributors and producers of child pornography.[17] In 1989, Inspectors arrested televangelist Jim Baker for mail fraud.[18]
In 1991, the Inspection Service breaks up an international art fraud ring selling fakes of paintings by Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali and other prominent artists.[19]
Postal Inspectors joined a multi-agency task force to catch the Unabomber, who was arrested in 1996. Several Postal Inspectors were on site during the arrest and began interviewing him while other members of the task force searched his cabin.[20]
===21st Century===
In 2001, “Operation Avalanche”, a coordinated effort between Postal Inspectors and 30 other federally funded task forces, ends with the arrests of 100 individuals involved in the production and distribution of child pornography.[21] 
After the 9/11 terrorists attacks, Postal Inspectors secured mail from the Church Street Station post office,[22] and aided in the identification of the terrorists responsible for the attacks. Postal Inspectors joined the investigation into the 2001 Anthrax attacks.[23]
Postal Inspectors arrested Allen Stanford in 2012 for masterminding a $7 billion Ponzi scheme.[24]
The Inspectors, the only television show funded by a government agency, first aired in 2015. The show ran for four seasons and won two Daytime Emmy Awards.[25]
In 2018, several bombs were mailed to prominent members of Congress, the media and entertainment industry. Postal Inspectors aided the apprehension of the bomber.[26]
In August of 2020, Postal Police officers arrested Steve Bannon and others for defrauding donors to their online crowdfunding campaign “We Build the Wall.”[27] Inspectors took steps to ensure election mail during the 2020 Presidential Election was secured after an unprecedented number of voters voted by mail due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[28]
====Citations:====
*8. https://about.usps.com/publications/pub162/welcome.htm
*9. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013392017, pg 65
*10. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013392017, pg 90
*11. https://about.usps.com/publications/pub162/welcome.htm
*12. https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/behind-the-badge-case-histories-scams-and-schemes/ponzi-scheme
*13. https://mailomg.com/2017/09/06/five-famous-shipments-postal-inspectors-protected/ 
*14. https://mailomg.com/2017/09/06/five-famous-shipments-postal-inspectors-protected/ 
*15. https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/behind-the-badge-postal-inspection-service-duties-and-history-history/military-mail 
*16. https://about.usps.com/publications/pub162/welcome.htm
*17. https://about.usps.com/publications/pub162/welcome.htm 
*18. https://about.usps.com/publications/pub162/welcome.htm 
*19. https://about.usps.com/publications/pub162/welcome.htm
*20. https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/behind-the-badge-case-histories-dangerous-mail-bombs/unabomber
*21. https://about.usps.com/publications/pub162/welcome.htm
*22. https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2011/09/september-11-collecting-for-the-national-postal-museum.html 
*23. https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/behind-the-badge-case-histories-dangerous-mail/anthrax 
*24. https://www.uspis.gov/about/history-of-uspis/#2012
*25. https://www.uspis.gov/about/history-of-uspis/#2015 
*26. https://www.uspis.gov/about/history-of-uspis/#2018 
*27. https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/leaders-we-build-wall-online-fundraising-campaign-charged-defrauding-hundreds-thousands
*28. https://www.uspis.gov/election-mail-security/
===Add subheading “Notable Surveyors and Inspectors”. List the following individuals:===
*William Goddard (1740 – 1817) –  First Postal Surveyor, appointed by Benjamin Franklin 
*Noah Webster (1758 – 1843) – Author of the dictionary
*Allan Pinkerton (1819 – 1884) – Founder of the Pinkerton Detective Agency
*Anthony Comstock (1844 – 1915) – Anti-vice activist, namesake of the Comstock Laws
*John Clum (1851 – 1935) – Witness to the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, later established mail service in Alaska
*George B. Hamlet (d. 1926) – First Black Chief Inspector 
*Jesse M. Donaldson (1885 – 1970) – First Postal Inspector promoted to Post Master General
*Elmer Irey (1888 – 1948) – First Chief of the Internal Revenue Service Intelligence Unit
*Harry D. Holmes (1905 – 1989) – Witness to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, last person to interview Lee Harvey Oswald 
*Robert Moon (1917 – 2001) – Father of the ZIP Code, nicknamed Mr. ZIP
*Abigail Spanberger (1979-) - US Representative
Elmer Irey's Ghost (talk) 21:35, 12 January 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Major Edit Request - History Section Update and Notable Inspectors addition 

message: *William Goddard (1740 – 1817) –  First Postal Surveyor, appointed by Benjamin Franklin 
*Noah Webster (1758 – 1843) – Author of the dictionary
*Allan Pinkerton (1819 – 1884) – Founder of the Pinkerton Detective Agency
*Anthony Comstock (1844 – 1915) – Anti-vice activist, namesake of the Comstock Laws
*John Clum (1851 – 1935) – Witness to the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, later established mail service in Alaska
*George B. Hamlet (d. 1926) – First Black Chief Inspector 
*Jesse M. Donaldson (1885 – 1970) – First Postal Inspector promoted to Post Master General
*Elmer Irey (1888 – 1948) – First Chief of the Internal Revenue Service Intelligence Unit
*Harry D. Holmes (1905 – 1989) – Witness to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, last person to interview Lee Harvey Oswald 
*Robert Moon (1917 – 2001) – Father of the ZIP Code, nicknamed Mr. ZIP
*Abigail Spanberger (1979-) - US Representative
Elmer Irey's Ghost (talk) 21:35, 12 January 2021 (UTC)
thread_title: Add subheading “Notable Surveyors and Inspectors”. List the following individuals: