Patti Phillips

KN, p. 287 “Postal Inspectors: Law Enforcement Agents”

If there are no paragraph separations in the article below, please double-click on the title to create a more readable version.

 

Most of us think of the Post Office as the local place where we mail packages, pick up our mail from those handy P.O. Boxes, and buy stamps from the helpful window clerks. In fact there are many different types of employees within the country’s postal system, including Postal Inspectors and Postal Police Officers. The 1200 Postal Inspectors are federal law enforcement officers entitled to carry firearms and make arrests in order to protect the system from people that would commit fraud through its use.

 

The first Postmaster General of the United States, Benjamin Franklin, set up a system back in the 1770s whereby mail theft could be investigated by the newly formed U.S. Postal Inspection Service. 240+ years later, there are 200 laws that deal with specific crimes against the USPS. These days, much more than letters and money is stolen from the mail and the postal service is used by nefarious types for transporting all kinds of illegal items, including pornography.


The USPIS reports that it made 5,759 arrests in 2019, with an 80% conviction rate, largely for mail theft and mail fraud.

While mail and package thefts are thoroughly investigated, those thefts pale in comparison monetarily to the millions of dollars of illegal drugs that criminals attempt to pass through the system each year. The USPIS employs state-of-the-art methods at their National Forensic Laboratory in Virginia to detect and identify opioids and other drugs after seizure, process fingerprints and DNA to tie the drugs to the bad guys, and ferret out cyber criminals of all types that seek to misuse the mails.

Due to the growing global problems with opioid and fentanyl trafficking, the USPIS agents work cases together with the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency), Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to enforce the laws of our country. One interesting method of detecting illicit drugs in the mail allows inspectors to check for 300+ substances without ever opening the packages.

The USPS takes the mission of guarding the mail quite seriously and has a few tips for private citizens to help avoid theft of packages and letters. Check them out:

  • Pick up your mail daily. If you’ll be away, contact the local post office and have them hold your mail until you return.
  • Don’t send cash in the mail.
  • If you need to send something important in the mail, take it to the physical post office or drop it in one of the big blue mail boxes right before pickup time.

If you expect to receive a particular piece of mail and don’t, call the local post office and/or call the sender as soon as you realize it hasn’t arrived on time.

 

If you suspect mail fraud, you can report it by writing to this address:

Criminal Investigations Service Center
Attn: Mail Fraud
433 W.Harrison Street, Room 3255
Chicago, Il 60699-3255

 

Just in case you think that the USPIS focuses on the bad guys alone, they also send out emergency response teams after natural disasters (like fires and hurricanes) in order to restart mail service.

 

The USPIS press kit (https://www.uspis.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/uspis-press-kit-fact-sheet-2021.pdf) points out some of the agency’s duties and history.


Stay tuned for the next article about the USPIS, where I share information about high profile cases in which they have been involved.

 

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KNR, p. 286 “Puttanesca Sauce” (Staten Island Gravy)

Our good friend and enthusiastic cook, Chin Bawambi, sent us a recipe for Puttanesca Sauce. Sheila and I followed the recipe and it’s a WOW! We took the photos before and after taste-testing and tried it with pasta as well as beef and chicken dishes. We can honestly say it’s a truly versatile sauce. Guarantee: no bodies were found anywhere on the premises while cooking. Sheila tells me that I did fall asleep on the couch with a satisfied smile after dinner, though. I believe her.

Puttanesca Sauce (Staten Island Gravy)

Chin Bawambi
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours 15 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian

Equipment

  • Crock-pot

Ingredients
  

  • 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes with basil
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon powdered or minced garlic
  • 1 14 oz can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, oregano
  • 1 heaping Tablespoon capers
  • 1/4 cup sliced Kalamata olives
  • 1 2 oz can anchovy fillets in olive oil
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon Montreal steak seasoning (or to taste)

Instructions
 

  • Turn crock-pot on high.
  • Place crushed tomatoes, sea salt, oregano, and garlic in crock-pot.
  • Drain diced tomatoes and add to crock-pot.
  • Drain and mince capers, add to crock-pot, and blend.
  • Finely chop olive slices, add to crock-pot, and blend.
  • Pour olive oil from the anchovy can, plus the two Tablespoons of olive oil, into the crock-pot, keeping the anchovies in reserve.
  • Finely chop anchovies and add to crock-pot, blending in.
  • Add Montreal steak seasoning.
  • Stir all ingredients thoroughly.
  • Cook on high for 30 minutes, stir and drop temperature to low.
  • Cook an additional 45 minutes, stir again and check for flavor. If needed, add more steak seasoning to taste.
  • Cook for an additional hour.
  • Serve while hot or let cool for a bit and refrigerate up to a week in glass jars.
  • Serve with pasta, poultry, veggies, or meats.

Notes

Yields 48 ounces. We pour the sauce into Ball/Mason jars and refrigerate up to a week if not serving it right away.
Keyword Sauce

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KN, p. 285 “Top Ten New Posts 2021”

Thanks to the thousands of Kerrian’s Notebook readers who have spoken! Here are the Readers’ Choice Top Ten new posts for 2021. Read them for the first time or enjoy them again.  🙂

#10  “Tomato Basil Chicken Soup”

 

#9  “Was It Medical Malpractice?”

#8  “Hurricane Season Opened June 1st”

 

#7  “About the Bats”

#6  “Recovery Times for On the Job Injuries”

#5  “Visiting Detective Kylee Kane – HOA Murder”

#4  “Chicken Pot Pie”

#3  “The Impact of Weather on Guns and Bullets”

#2  “Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake Bars”

and the most read new post in 2021 was:


Visiting Detective Quinn Sterling

Here’s to a great 2022 and Happy Sleuthing!

 

 

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