Lawmakers question FPS staffing, funds and placement within DHS
Gary Schenkel, director of the US Federal Protective Service (FPS), faced two days of withering scrutiny Wednesday and Thursday from both chambers of Congress as to whether his agency was up to the job of protecting 9,000 federal buildings throughout the United States, after a report from a government watchdog found FPS lacked appropriate manpower and resources to fulfill its responsibilities.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) Wednesday released the FPS report, titled "The Federal Protective Service Faces Several Challenges That Hamper Its Ability to Protect Federal Facilities," prior to a House hearing on the topic, which preceded a Senate hearing Thursday. The panels not only pondered if FPS lacked the staff and equipment to be effective, but also whether the agency should remain a part of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), who led the House inquiry, wondered if the FPS placement within ICE were "lethal" to the agency. Mark Goldstein, GAO director of Physical Infrastructure Issues, testified that an ongoing review by his agency would determine why the Department of Homeland Security placed FPS within ICE and whether it should remain there.
In addition, GAO found that FPS had lost 20 percent of its staff from fiscal 2004 through 2007. The loss of staff put federal facilities at risk, GAO found, citing that the law enforcement agency could not provide proactive patrols at federal facilities to watch for criminals or terrorists.
FPS plans to address this shortfall by concentrating the activities of its full-time officers on managing contract security guards, who would patrol instead.
In addition, FPS charges a basic security fee to the tenants of federal buildings for the services it provides. Those fees have been inadequate in the past, but now have been covering FPS costs since fiscal 2007 with an increased fee of 62 cents per square foot.
GAO recommended that FPS develop a strategic approach to managing its staff, clarify roles of law enforcement agencies FPS depends upon to assist it in responding to alerts at federal facilities, improve its fee-based system, evaluate if the fee-based system is the best system to use, develop performance standards, and improve data collection and classification.
ICE, responding through Penelope McCormack, acting director of the DHS GAO liaison office, agreed with the recommendations, noting it had started to build applications to assist with those goals.
"The Risk Assessment and Management Program (RAMP) and a Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system will provide ready access to the variety of information that will permit FPS to maintain appropriate situational awareness, as well as the capacity to access, analyze, report, and utilize information to accomplish the FPS vision of 'Secure Facilities, Safe Occupants' at costs that are appropriate and equitable," McCormack wrote.
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