The U.S. Postal Service has its own law-enforcement staff, the Postal Inspection Service, whose powers and responsibilities date back to 1772 and are outlined in a federal code dedicated to the agency. On Aug. 25, the service "directed its police officers nationwide to end all mail-protection and other law-enforcement activity away from the confines of postal real estate," according to a lawsuit filed the same day by the Postal Police Officers Association.
The directive was one of several controversial moves by the service since the appointment of Louis DeJoy as Postmaster General.