Parents of Prisoners Community Group
A group that tries to share with each other how they deal with being a good supporting parent of a prisoner and the unique problems that arise. What to share or not, how to deal with spouse of prisoner, ex-spouse of, children of prisoner which we may not see either anymore,so forth
My son sent me a package that contained 4 years of his legal work, other personal paperwork such as letters and notes that he's been keeping over the years, a TV and a book light, a small bible and an AA book, along with a few other small personal items that were important to him. The reason he sent it is because he's moving from Montana to our home state, PA, and was not allowed to take it with him. The package was shipped, at a cost of $25, on Dec 23 and I finally received it on Jan 23. The package was smashed and re-taped to hold the seams together. When I opened the box there was no TV, no book light, his discovery package (which is all his legal paperwork) was gone, as were other misc paper items. The small hand sized bible, AA book and a few assorted papers are all that was in the box, which came to a total weight of 4.12 lbs which in no way should have cost 25 dollars to ship. The reason the box was smashed is because there was nothing in it to support the sides.
To make a long story short, I talked to the supervisor at the prison it was shipped from and he confirmed for me that the items my son told me were in the box were in fact on the inventory log that was signed by him, were wrapped in bubble wrap and placed in the box by the supervisor along with all the other items, sealed shut by the supervisor and then taken to the mail room to be shipped.
Sometime between the time the box was sealed in front of my son (he never sees it after that) and the time the box reached my home the items in the box were removed. Also, in the box was a library book with a white sleeve around the cover that says do not remove this sleeve and if it's not returned there's a fine. The supervisor said that if that had been in the box before he sealed it he would have removed it.There other item that wasn't in the box when it was sealed was a blank United States Postal Service form for a COD package. The supervisor sounded just as puzzled as I when I told him. He told me he would look into it for me and get back to me.
The next day I called him again and asked if he would send me a copy of the inventory log that he was reading from the day before and he said yes, however, when he went to get the paper so we could go over it again he was unable to find it. Hmmmmm. I'll be calling him again tomorrow to see if he's been able to locate it.
I checked with my Post Office and they basically told me there's nothing I can do. I then wrote to the postal inspector and got an auto generated email thanking me for submitting my info but they will only contact me if they need more info and will only investigate if they have other complaints. GRRRRRR. I thought tampering with the mail was a federal offense?!
I'm not done with this yet but feel like i'm fighting a losing battle. I realize we may never see his belongings again but would like to see something done. When I didn't receive the package within 2 weeks of it being shipped my son told me that there had been reports of other inmates having items stolen from their mail. I'm pretty certain that the package was tampered with at the facility.
A word of warning.....make sure your loved ones packages are insured, get tracing numbers and they get copies of the inventory logs.
If anyone has any ideas of who I can talk to, etc, I'd be more than happy to hear from you. :-)
To make a long story short, I talked to the supervisor at the prison it was shipped from and he confirmed for me that the items my son told me were in the box were in fact on the inventory log that was signed by him, were wrapped in bubble wrap and placed in the box by the supervisor along with all the other items, sealed shut by the supervisor and then taken to the mail room to be shipped.
Sometime between the time the box was sealed in front of my son (he never sees it after that) and the time the box reached my home the items in the box were removed. Also, in the box was a library book with a white sleeve around the cover that says do not remove this sleeve and if it's not returned there's a fine. The supervisor said that if that had been in the box before he sealed it he would have removed it.There other item that wasn't in the box when it was sealed was a blank United States Postal Service form for a COD package. The supervisor sounded just as puzzled as I when I told him. He told me he would look into it for me and get back to me.
The next day I called him again and asked if he would send me a copy of the inventory log that he was reading from the day before and he said yes, however, when he went to get the paper so we could go over it again he was unable to find it. Hmmmmm. I'll be calling him again tomorrow to see if he's been able to locate it.
I checked with my Post Office and they basically told me there's nothing I can do. I then wrote to the postal inspector and got an auto generated email thanking me for submitting my info but they will only contact me if they need more info and will only investigate if they have other complaints. GRRRRRR. I thought tampering with the mail was a federal offense?!
I'm not done with this yet but feel like i'm fighting a losing battle. I realize we may never see his belongings again but would like to see something done. When I didn't receive the package within 2 weeks of it being shipped my son told me that there had been reports of other inmates having items stolen from their mail. I'm pretty certain that the package was tampered with at the facility.
A word of warning.....make sure your loved ones packages are insured, get tracing numbers and they get copies of the inventory logs.
If anyone has any ideas of who I can talk to, etc, I'd be more than happy to hear from you. :-)
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