“As far as I know, there’s never been a PPO that was deployed to protect postal facilities based on intelligence gleaned from iCOP,” Mr. Albergo said. “I mean, I don’t know what they could be using that for. To my eyes, it’s certainly not to protect the postal service.
“It’s a federal law enforcement agency that’s completely out of control, if you ask me.”
Congressional Republicans have sought information about what iCOP is doing but have received few answers. Chief Postal Inspector Gary R. Barksdale privately briefed lawmakers on the program last month. He said the agency expanded iCOP’s function last year as threats to Postal Service leadership, employees and facilities increased, according to Rep. James Comer, the top-ranking Republican on the House Oversight and Reform Committee.
By Lambert Strether of Corrente.
Patient readers, sorry to be a bit late. Every so often by VPN causes my browser to believe I’m in Norway, at which point search results and my mailer UI appear in Norwegian, and I have to spend a few minutes persuading my browser otherwise. More politics shortly. –lambert
Bird Song of the Day
#COVID19
At reader request, I’ve added this daily chart from 91-DIVOC. The data is the Johns Hopkins CSSE data. Here is the site.
Resuming the upward climb, though at a lesser slope. Looks like the Midwest did it, from the regional data. I feel I’m engaging in a macabre form of tape-watching, because I don’t think the peak is coming in the next days, or even weeks. Is the virus gathering itself for another leap?
Updated on December 17, 2020 at 8:12 pm
NBC Universal, Inc.
A policy change could be to blame for increased mail theft across our area, a postal insider told the News4 I-Team.
The head of the Postal Police Officers Association says the U.S. Postal Service removed its uniformed officers from patrols that deter those kinds of crimes, instead stationing them inside postal processing facilities. Download our NBC Washington app for iOS or Android to get alerts for local breaking news and weather. It s nuts; it s absolutely crazy, said Frank Albergo, president of the PPOA. They pulled us off the street. There are no more marked postal police vehicles out in the street. I mean, it s actually inviting crime.