About the Chief Postal Inspector
Guy Cottrell was named Chief Postal Inspector for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in July, 2010. In this role, Cottrell oversees all operations of the Postal Inspection Service, which includes its national headquarters, 17 field divisions, two service centers and a national forensic laboratory. The installations are staffed by over 1,400 Postal Inspectors, more than 650 Postal Police Officers and approximately 600 support personnel. Chief Cottrell is also the chairman of the Universal Postal Union’s Postal Security Group. He reports to the Postmaster General. 

Prior to his appointment, Cottrell served as Deputy Chief Inspector, overseeing its national security programs. A native of West Virginia who grew up in the New Orleans, Louisiana area, Cottrell joined the Postal Service in 1987 as a letter carrier in New Orleans. In 1990, Cottrell was promoted to Postal Inspector in the former New Orleans Division, where he investigated internal and external mail theft throughout Louisiana and Southern Mississippi.

Since that time, Cottrell has held a number of supervisory and management positions in several field divisions, including Postal Inspector in Charge of the Washington Division during much of the joint FBI/USPIS Amerithrax investigation.

In 2008, Cottrell came to Headquarters as Postal Inspector in Charge of the Security & Crime Prevention / Communications group, during which time he guided the organization toward a risk and management analysis platform, streamlined a wide array of security-related programs, and implemented numerous cost effective and innovative solutions. His group also produced several security and crime prevention publications and videos, and overhauled the Postal Inspection Service’s public website.

Chief Cottrell holds a Bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of New Orleans.