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Why does the Post Office have its own police force? Does the Passport Office also have a police force? Or the Government Printing Office?

ML/NJ

I worked as a PPO for 14 yrs. We were the uniformed branch of Inspection service. PPOs have police power only on property owned or controlled by USPS. We did building security at main office and went to burglar alarms at local offices after hours. The Inspectors believed they were equal to FBI agents. But an investigation into employee mail theft using paid informants went awry. They failed to fully corroborate the informant claims and fired many employees. At court most employees were exonerated and ordered reinstated. That was when the USPS was placed in the OIG system. Major postal inspector duties were given to the OIG. Most inspectors left for other federal agencies. There are some PIs still about but way fewer overall. I certainly don't miss wearing the black uniform in the summer along with the Kevlar vest. We swapped the old revolvers in early 90s for semiautomatic pistols. Don't miss the gun and badge work, especially in today's environment.