Steve Kenton - Weldon Postmaster

The United States Postal Inspection Service® has a proud history of protecting postal customers and their mail. Postal Inspectors trace their roots back more than 250 years to Benjamin Franklin.

The Postal Inspection Service is the law enforcement and security arm of the Postal Service’—¢. Stationed across the country are nearly 1,600 Postal Inspectors ’Äì federal law enforcement officers who carry firearms, make arrests, serve federal search warrants and subpoenas and enforce roughly 200 federal laws concerning the U.S. Mail’—¢ and the nation’s postal system. They work closely with prosecutors and other law enforcement agencies to investigate postal cases and prepare them for court, and with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to ensure that in times of national crisis, the mail continues as a crucial part of America’s communications infrastructure. The Postal Inspection Service maintains a security force of more than 700 armed, uniformed Postal Police Officers who are assigned to key postal facilities across the country. The Postal Inspection Service also operates a forensic crime laboratory in Dulles, VA. Here forensic scientists and technical specialists assist Postal Inspectors in analyzing evidentiary material needed for identifying and tracing criminal suspects and in providing expert testimony for cases brought to trial.

Some of America’s more famous crimes were solved by Postal Inspectors. In 1916, the Postal Inspection Service solved the last known stage-coach robbery in the United States, apprehending the bandits within five days of the crime.

In 1972, Postal Inspectors and forensic scientists proved that a handwritten note giving Clifford Irving exclusive rights to write Howard Hughes’ biography was a fraud. In 1987, Postal Inspectors found widespread white-collar crimes on Wall Street, including insider trading and a massive check-kiting scheme. Numerous prosecutions resulted.

In 1991, the Postal Inspection Service broke up a worldwide art fraud ring that was marketing bogus paintings supposedly created by Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso. In 1996, Postal Inspectors played an integral role in a multi-agency task force that arrested Theodore Kaczynski, the 'Unabomber,' marking the end of one of the largest and most extensive criminal manhunts in modern history. And in 2000, the Postal Inspection Service led the way in the disruption of a worldwide network in which the mail and the Internet were used to view and distribute disturbing images of child pornography.

For more information about the Postal Inspection Service and the work they do to protect you and your mail, go to www.usps.com/postalinspectors.