Inside secret passageways at the Post Office (Lookout Gallery)

In most (yes, most!) Post Offices there's a series of secret passageways called a "Lookout Gallery" (LOG) that's used by Postal Inspectors and the Office of Inspector General for surveillance purposes. Commonly referred to as a "LOG" the purpose of these structures is to monitor and observe the Postal work environment so as to prevent mail theft.

Yes, unfortunately a small minority of Postal employees have been known to steal letters and packages while on the job. The good news is that, thanks to the LOG (and law enforcement personnel in general) internal theft at the Postal Service is probably a lot less than in most other work environments. In addition to the two-way mirrors (visible at the start of this recording) another critical component of the structure is the "Breakout Door." The breakout doors are usually located at the the base of the LOG, at workroom floor level, so that law enforcement personnel can "breakout" into the work area and make an arrest or take whatever action is needed.

Postal law enforcement personnel aren't generally too fond of working in the "LOG" as it's not usually air-conditioned and it's exempt from fire codes and other safety related regulations. In this video you can see a couple of different ladder configurations for access to and from the "breakout" doors. Law enforcement personnel have been known to fall and get hurt in these areas as the lights you see in this video are normally left off during regular LOG use (the lights are normally kept available for the use of maintenance personnel that need access to the LOG for various reasons).

Starting sometime during the first decade of the second millennium the Postal Inspection Service started installing extensive video monitoring systems in their new facilities instead of a LOG. The LOG is extraordinarily expensive, despite its lack of creature comforts, plus nobody likes spending a lot of time in 'em anyway!

Here's my personal webpage about the Postal Service in general:
http://www.rogerwendell.com/postal.html

11-06-2011

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• secret
• Post
• Office
• passageways
• lookout
• gallery
• LOG
• breakout
• door
• two-way
• mirrors
• USPS
• law
• enforcement
• Postal
• Inspection
• Service
• of
• Inspector
• General
• surveillance
• monitoring
• spying
• hidden
• passage

[zeekzilch]

@csmpeoil

No, no - the video is not two decades old - the facility was nearly that old at the time of

the recording. The recording took place a few years ago. You are correct, Tour 2 was

about the only time, back in those days, when the workroom floor would be so quiet. Now, of course,

there's even less activity with so little mail volume. I'm sure access to the LOG varies from one facility to another - in smaller facilities the Postmaster or Postmaster's secretary might have a key, etc.

[csmpeoil]

@zeekzilch I must say, that is excellent video quality for being almost 2 decades old. I'd love to know which facility you are referring to when you say a lot of people have routine access to the gallery. Maintenance yes, but that is generally reserved for quarterly cleanings. Video looks to be recorded during T2 which would explain the unpopulated workroom floor. Were you maintenance when you shot this or what?

[zeekzilch]

@csmpeoil

I believe the LOG in this video was 17 years old at the time of the recording. A lot of people have routine access to the LOG - especially for maintenance purposes. I have also seen it used for monitoring production but believe that practice is generally discouraged. I've also seen technicians in the LOG to set up cameras and other monitoring equipment. LOGs Have been forcibly entered at times, during emergencies for faulty electrical problems, leaking water, etc. LOGs can be busy!

[csmpeoil]

@zeekzilch Intriguing. How then did you gain unfettered access to the log? Looks like a fairly new facility, and the gallery is in pristine condition -- and noticeably no packing peanuts on the floor :)

[zeekzilch]

@csmpeoil

A ladder can be climbed with one hand while carefully holding a camera in the other. Or, better stated, a ladder can be carefully climbed while holding a camera in one hand - or something like that! I was a maintenance employee, long ago, but am no longer with the Postal Service.

[csmpeoil]

Are you maintenance giving a tour? How did you climb that ladder while holding the camera device?