A Mobile Mail-Screening Station is a highly specialized, self-propelled facility designed to screen mail for the presence of explosive devices and to deter people from sending chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons through the mail, specifically to certain special events. Mobile Mail-Screening Stations are operated by the

United States Postal Inspection Service The United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), or the Postal Inspectors, is the law enforcement arm of the United States Postal Service. It supports and protects the U.S. Postal Service, its employees, infrastructure, and customers by enf ...

Description

The Mobile Mail-Screening Station was designed by the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...

s' Technical Services Division. Each unit is a tractor and trailer combination containing eight compartmentalized areas that house specialized mail screening equipment. This includes: the GID-3 ambient air monitoring system for the detection of industrial toxins and chemical warfare agents, the HI-SCAN 7555i X-ray Inspection System to scan packages and letters for the presence of

improvised explosive devices An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mechan ...

(IEDs), Smiths Detection HazMatID for the identification of "unknown powders, liquids, pastes and gels" and the SABRE FR air filtration table for the detection of toxic industrial chemicals. A fully deployed Mobile Mail-Screening Station is operated by a staff of five to eight people.

History

The first deployment of a Mobile Mail-Screening Station was to the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism Conference in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

in 2007. Since that time, other deployments have included the Super Bowl, the

G20 The G20 or Group of Twenty is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union (EU). It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stability, climate change mitigatio ...

Summit, and the Democratic National Convention and Republican National Convention. In 2010, at the request of the Canadian government, a Mobile Mail-Screening Station was deployed to

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, British Columbia, Canada from January 25 to March 19, 2010 to screen mail destined for

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gret ...

sites for the presence of "chemical biological, radiological, nuclear or explosive" threats. During domestic deployments, Mobile Mail-Screening Stations typically form part of the inter-agency contingent assigned to a

United States Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...

Special Events Working Group, which is formed to secure

national security special event A National Special Security Event (NSSE) is an event of national or international significance deemed by the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to be a potential target for terrorism or other criminal activity. These events have ...

References

{{reflist, 30em United States Postal Service Police vehicles