Homeland Security: Addressing Weaknesses with Facility Security Committees Would Enhance Protection of Federal Facilities
Highlights
To accomplish its mission of protecting about 9,000 federal facilities, the Federal Protective Service (FPS) currently has a budget of about $1 billion, about 1,225 full-time employees, and about 15,000 contract security guards. However, protecting federal facilities and their occupants from a potential terrorist attack or other acts of violence remains a daunting challenge for the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Federal Protective Service. GAO has issued numerous reports on FPS's efforts to protect the General Services Administration's (GSA) facilities. This report (1) recaps the major challenges we reported that FPS faces in protecting federal facilities and discusses FPS's efforts to address them and (2) identifies an additional challenge that FPS faces related to the facility security committees (FSC), which are responsible for addressing security issues at federal facilities. This report is based primarily on our previous work and recent FPS interviews.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Homeland Security | The Secretary of DHS should direct the Under Secretary of the National Protection and Programs Directorate and the Director of Federal Protective Service to work in consultation with GSA and the Interagency Security Committee to develop and implement procedures that, among other things, outline the facility security committees' organizational structure, operations, decision-making authority, and accountability. |
In 2009, GAO reported that facility security committees (FSC), which are responsible for addressing security issues at federal facilities, have complicated Federal Protective Service's (FPS) ability to protect federal facilities under the control or custody of General Services Administration (GSA). FSCs have operated since 1995 without guidelines, policies, or procedures that outline how they should operate, make decisions, or establish accountability. This results in ad hoc security that undermines effective protection of individual facilities as well as the entire facilities' portfolio. Consequently, there is a lack of assurance that federal facilities under the control and custody of GSA are effectively protected by FPS. GAO recommended that FPS work with GSA and the Interagency Security Committee (ISC) to develop and implement procedures that, among other things, outline the FSC's organizational structure, operations, decision-making authority, and accountability. In response to our recommendation, on July 6, 2011, the ISC, in consultation with FPS and GSA released "Facility Security Committees: An Interagency Security Committee Standard," which establishes procedures for the FSC to use when presented with security issues that affect the entire facility, as well as the organizational structure, operations, accountability, and decision-making authority for FSCs. As a result, FSCs now have standardized procedures that outline how the FSC should operate and make decisions regarding a facility's security posture and enhance the protection of federal facilities.
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