Postal Shootings: Turmoil Within : Needed--monitoring of the Postal Service

Society is never free of risk from disturbed individuals, but this week’s postal shootings in Dana Point and Dearborn, Mich., should call the Clinton Administration’s attention to just how serious the problems are in the Postal Service.

The agency has the nation’s largest civilian work force, and it follows that the sheer number of people on the payroll increases the potential for having more of almost everything, including disgruntled or mentally unbalanced employees. But the work environment and culture of the Postal Service appear especially in need of remedial work. That need is well-documented, and action has long been called for; action also has been slow in coming.

Complaints about bad supervisors are legion, and there have been too many employees who have been prone to violence. Recognition of these problems isn’t new. A recent congressional investigation into the Postal Service’s hiring and management practices recommended improved management training and screening of new hires, increased security, better handling of grievances and more.

Even in these anxiety-prone times, this agency stands apart from most institutions for its levels of stress. And yet reforms have not been implemented. Here we are again with murderous violence, seven years after a part-time letter carrier with a history of work problems killed 14 in Edmond, Okla.

This grim, mounting toll suggests the need for Cabinet-level monitoring of the Postal Service’s problems, to make sure that promises to do better are actually followed up with concrete reforms.

The Dana Point tragedy had a second element--obsession--that further shows society’s vulnerability to its most troubled members. Dismissed mail carrier Mark Richard Hilbun, the suspect in the killing of his mother and a former fellow worker, is reported to have stalked another former co-worker, a woman who escaped injury in Thursday’s attack. In addition to being called a stalker, Hilbun was described by authorities as a manic-depressive and unhappy about being fired. What a fearsome combination.

Even though California has led in making stalking a crime, there is more that must be done to make it easier for victims to get protection.

Hilbun had threatened to kill Kim Springer, the former co-worker who escaped harm on Thursday. Unfortunately, earlier in the week she was unable to get a restraining order because she did not have $182 for the filing fee. That figure is high--and so were the human costs of this tragedy.