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CNN Live At Daybreak

Security and Safety In the Post Office

Aired October 25, 2001 - 05:05   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's take this a step further to your home. And a question you might be wondering, is it safe to open your own mail?

CNN's Gary Tuchman looks at that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You don't need a background check to drop a letter in a mailbox. So when you receive a letter, you're relying on the integrity of the person who sent it.

PETER NASH, POSTAL INSPECTOR: In the United States every day the Postal Service handles 680 million pieces of mail.

TUCHMAN: With that in mind, the postmaster general of the United States says the safety of the mail cannot be guaranteed. But extra precautions have now been put into place.

NASH: We have teams working around the clock just checking suspect parcels, suspect letters that may or may not contain anthrax.

TUCHMAN: After your mail goes into the mailbox, it typically is sent to a sorting center like this one. For the most part, the mail is sorted automatically and it is a fairly routine process. Postal employees have always put aside suspicious mail, but they are now being more vigilant.

NASH: Items that we've had to have the HAZMAT teams check out have turned out to be soap powder, detergent, different types of powder in the mail. There's powder used to keep magazines from sticking together.

TUCHMAN: When suspicious mail is found, the intended recipient is called and asked for the legal permission to have it examined. That's now occurring an average of 50 times a day in the New York City area alone.

SHERISE HICKMAN, LETTER CARRIER: If you don't know who the mail is coming from, don't open a package. Get rid of it.

TUCHMAN: Other tips from the postal inspectors that they use themselves: if your mail smells, is stained, or is lopsided, don't open it either.

After your mail reaches the sorting center, it typically makes two more stops, to another sorting center near the destination followed by the local post office. And then to your mailbox.

Some people have come up with plans in case they receive a letter they regard as suspicious.

UNIDENTIFIED CITIZEN: Well, I'd open the window, I'd put a scarf around me, and I'd put on some gloves.

TUCHMAN: Post office bosses do say it couldn't hurt to wash your hands after you open your mail. They also say there are more security measures in store.

JOHN POTTER, POSTMASTER GENERAL: We are out on the market buying electron beam equipment that can penetrate the mail and kill any bacteria in the mail.

TUCHMAN: Meanwhile, the Postal Service is now cleaning mail sorting equipment with vacuum cleaners instead of blowers, which spreads dust. And stronger antibacterial cleaning chemicals are now being used on the machines.

(on camera): The U.S. Postal Service has 800,000 employees. And they've been informed by their top brass that they are now part of the front line of defense against terrorism.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And speaking of mailing letters, the United States Postal Service has unveiled the new "United We Stand" postage stamp. Dedicated to American unity against terrorism, this depicts the stars and stripes rippling smartly in the breeze. You see the picture there. Now, the new stamp is already available in a few areas and it's going to be available nationwide by November 5. That's just about, what, a week and a half from now?

KAGAN: Something like that. It's a good looking stamp, too.

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