The U.S. Postal Service has declined to grant interviews to 13 Investigates this year regarding concerns about mail theft at Houston-area post offices. Instead, investigative team has relied on public records requests to gather more information.
Over the past four years, 13 Investigates discovered through public records requests that the USPS Office of the Inspector General has handled 261 cases in the Southern Region, which includes Texas, where a USPS employee has been found responsible for mail theft. Out of these cases, 18 were duplicates, leaving a total of 243 instances where a USPS employee was found culpable.
Despite requesting files for each of these cases a month ago, obtaining this information has proven to be challenging. The USPS Office of Inspector General’s public records team informed ABC13 that it could take an additional six months to obtain these files.
Additionally, 13 Investigates also requested files related to incidents at three Houston-area USPS facilities, including the North Houston Distribution Center. However, these requests were rejected by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. This rejection cited concerns that disclosing the files “would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions” or risk circumvention of the law.
Despite these challenges, 13 Investigates remains committed to monitoring mail-related issues in the Houston area.
