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Homeland Security: Preliminary Observations on the Federal Protective Service's Efforts to Protect Federal Property

GAO-08-476T Published: Feb 08, 2008. Publicly Released: Feb 08, 2008.
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In 2003, the Federal Protective Service (FPS) was transferred from the General Services Administration (GSA) to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and is currently tasked with providing physical security and law enforcement services to about 8,800 facilities owned or leased by GSA. To accomplish its mission, FPS currently has a workforce of about 1,100 employees and about 15,000 contract guards located throughout the country. While there has not been a large-scale attack on a domestic federal facility since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and the 1995 terrorist attack on the Oklahoma City Federal Building, it is important that FPS has sufficient resources and an effective approach to protect federal employees and members of the public that work in and visit federal facilities from the risk of crime and terrorist attacks. GAO was asked to provide information and analysis on (1) the extent to which FPS is fulfilling its mission to protect federal employees and facilities and (2) the management challenges FPS faces. To address these objectives, GAO analyzed FPS staffing data and interviewed numerous FPS officials, GSA, tenant agencies, and local police departments.

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Combating terrorismCrime preventionFacility securityFederal facilitiesFederal procurementHomeland securityLaw enforcementLaw enforcement agenciesPhysical securityProcurement planningRisk assessmentRisk managementStrategic planningTerrorismTerrorists