For Writers

KN, p. 232 “Scotland Yard is not in Scotland.”

 

Formed in 1829 by Robert Peel, Scotland Yard is known the world over as a British police department, but it is not located in Scotland. The entrance to the first headquarters happened to be on a street called Scotland Yard, and eventually, the street and the building became known as one and the same. The New Scotland Yard is no longer in that spot, but the name has remained.

Scotland Yard is officially called the Metropolitan Police Service and is the largest police force in England. It has law enforcement jurisdiction in London, but not the City of London, the subway system, the above ground trains, or anywhere outside London.

England has no national police force. Rather, each area force is overseen by police/crime commissioners (PCC). PCCs are in charge of their own chief constable and police force, but also must be sensitive to the needs of the community that elected them. In the case of the Metropolitan Police Service, the Commissioner serves at the pleasure of the Queen, but is recommended to her by the British Home Secretary.

The Metropolitan Police duties include:

  • Detection and prevention of crime
  • Preservation of public order
  • Supervision of road traffic
  • Licensing of public vehicles

 

We (the international audience) hear more about Scotland Yard because it is the Criminal Investigation Department of the Metropolitan Police. The CID houses:

  • criminal records (of all known criminals in the UK)
  • fingerprint and photography areas
  • company fraud department
  • a mobile police unit
  • the metropolitan police lab
  • the detective-training school

It shares its investigative findings and resources with other police forces and even though it doesn’t have primary responsibility elsewhere in the UK, it sometimes gets called in on homicide and other criminal cases. It is the British liaison with Interpol (the international police organization) and all UK terrorism cases are coordinated through the Yard. One of the tools Scotland Yard relies on is a national computer system called Home Office Large Major Enquiry System – catch that? (HOLMES, as a nod to the fictional English detective).  🙂

If you are interested in becoming a detective for this renowned organization, the process is easier now than in the past. About three years ago, a shortage of Met detectives compelled the powers that be to widen their recruiting strategy. In May 2017, it was publicized that interested candidates no longer had to work as a beat officer first; they could apply directly to become a detective constable.

 

The major details:

  • Assessments and interviews required before training begins
  • Starting salary £30,000
  • Must have lived in London for three of the previous six years
  • Degree required
  • Training program will take two years
  • Benefits: free transit on the London rail, bus, and subway

You can apply from age 18 through 57 to be a new Police Constable. If you happen to want the job and you are already 57, be aware that retirement is compulsory at 60, meaning that you will have one year after the two year training period to serve as an active duty detective.


If you have a criminal background, your application won’t be considered, with few exceptions. Of interest is that sometimes your family is vetted as well, so if you have a crime boss in your background, this career is most likely a ‘no’ for you.


You must be mentally and physically fit, which includes passing the Beep (or Bleep) test. This test is mostly about running back and forth between stanchions at increasingly greater speeds in shorter periods of time during 21 levels. It’s a real cardio workout and looks much easier than it really is.


During the assessment process you will need to demonstrate characteristics required for the role of police constable. In addition to the physical and mental tests you must show:

  • Effective communication skills
  • Personal effectiveness
  • Team working capabilities
  • Respect for diversity
  • Personal awareness
  • Problem solving skills

Training takes place at Police Scotland Training and Recruitment Centers, the Scottish Police College, and at your home Division. There are periodic testing days spread throughout the two years, in both physical and academic areas.

The two year course is divided into six units relating to:

  • Police and the Community
  • Evidence
  • Crime
  • General Police Duties
  • Road Policing
  • Writing Skills

Look like something you’d like to do and are qualified for?

For more information about the requirements of the jobs and training aspects, please visit:

https://www.scotland.police.uk

http://www.metpolicecareers.co.uk/newconstable/eligibility.php

 

 

 

KN, p. 232 “Scotland Yard is not in Scotland.” Read More »

KN, p. 288 “Crime via the Post Office”

Read “Postal Inspectors: Law Enforcement Agents” here.


The United States Post Office has been around since the days of Benjamin Franklin, quietly doing a great job of delivering more mail to millions of U.S. residents than any other company, six days a week and sometimes Sundays. No other delivery company handles the volume of mail on a daily basis as the United States Postal Service. Sadly, we only hear about the USPS when something awful happens, and when nasty people take advantage of the efficient system already in place to carry out their nefarious plans.

 

Interestingly enough, the USPS can help work on postal treaties with other countries, so the rising cost of postage we have to put on packages to Canada or Europe etc., has been negotiated as part of certain economic trade packages.

 

But there is a branch of the USPS that works as a law enforcement arm: the United States Postal Inspection Service. They have special agents who are licensed to carry firearms, make arrests, and investigate suspected crime, as well as auditors who uncover fraud that targets Post Office services.

 

Benjamin Franklin was concerned about the rise in theft by the mail riders themselves, or others entrusted with safekeeping of the mail and its delivery, and in 1792, stealing the mail was considered so serious that the death penalty was imposed by Congress.

 

By the 1850s, more people headed west as the country rapidly expanded, and trains and stagecoaches were commonly used as a means to improve mail delivery throughout even the most remote territories. That move away from the one-rider-one-horse model to the speed that the train and the stagecoach provided, also created an explosion of train and stagecoach robberies. The Wild West had become a profitable place for bands of outlaws led by men like Billy the Kid, Butch Cassidy, and the Sundance Kid. In response, the USPIS (the United States Postal Inspection Service) grew in size and experience in order to investigate, arrest, and convict the culprits responsible for the theft of thousands of dollars in mail bags and gold.

 

As the railroad companies improved security and postal inspectors were issued Thompson submachine guns in the 1920s, train robberies dropped, but criminals like the “Black Hand” and Charles Ponzi found other ways to take advantage of and sabotage the mails.

 

The “Black Hand” threatened people with bodily harm via letters if they didn’t come up with cash. Charles Ponzi, the creator of the pyramid scheme, swindled would-be postal coupon investors by promising to double their money in three months time. Even some Boston investigators sent to check out the wild interest in Ponzi’s company fell for his savvy pitch and invested their hard-earned money. In reality, all he did was collect big bucks from people, then get new ‘investors’ to hand over their cash, which Ponzi gave to the old investors as return on their investments – which meant that he was always upside down financially. By the time he was convicted, he had $110 million on hand, but owed $200 million to the investors. The people that cashed out early were fortunate. The people last in line lost everything.

The USPIS has broken up art fraud rings, helped capture Ted Kaczynski (the Unabomber), and partnered with the FBI to investigate the mailing of the four deadly Anthrax letters sent in 2001.

 

Be reassured that after the spate of bomb deliveries to unsuspecting customers, dogs have been employed, along with other explosive detection devices, to sniff out the deadly packages before they ever leave the postal delivery hubs.

 

The USPIS website mentioned examples of fraud they have uncovered, including a trucking contractor defrauding the Postal Service of $1.5 million in fuel rebates; a highway route contractor defrauding the Postal Service of $120,468 for services not rendered; and a construction contractor charging the Postal Service $175,630 for work never done. Shaking my head at the stupidity of people thinking they could get way with not paying the taxes and fees.

 

The USPIS investigates and prosecutes cases of:

  • Consumer fraud (including sports memorabilia – game jerseys not worn by the star)
  • Counterfeit money orders and stamps
  • Misrepresentation of items sold through the mail
  • Money laundering
  • Cybercrimes (committed online, generally using computers or handheld devices, almost always involving the postal system. The criminal commits identity theft, gathers financial and other information, then uses that information to contact unsuspecting targets through emails to pitch large $$ scams.)


Drugs thru the mail:
Pharmacies have delivered prescriptions to law-abiding citizens for decades, but they are not the only ones using the system. Drug cartels have discovered how well the USPS operates, so the USPIS works with US Customs and Border Protection, and other federal agencies to stop the almost epidemic cases of opioid mail delivery.

The Postal Inspectors have employed time honored methods to catch the bad guys:

  • Collect the evidence
  • Identify the suspects
  • Work with the National Forensic Lab to develop a fact pattern that they can take to a U.S. Attorney

  

There are hundreds of cases that have been investigated and solved with the involvement of the United States Postal Inspection Service. Please check out www.uspis.gov for some great information about how the Post Office helps you every day. If you’re interested in the training the Postal Inspectors undergo, or how to become one, check them out.

 

*Photos and logo courtesy of the USPIS.

 

 

 

KN, p. 288 “Crime via the Post Office” Read More »

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.

 

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

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