Costs of Federal Personnel Security Investigations Could and Should Be Cut

A personnel security investigation is an inquiry into the activities of an individual to make sure he/she is reliable, trustworthy, loyal, and of good character. Authorities use the information to determine a person's suitability, security eligibility, and loyalty. There are two basic types of investigations: one called full field, which is extensive; and one called national agency check and inquiry, which is less so. Each includes a check of Federal agency arrest and investigative records. The extent of the investigation is determined by the sensitivity of the job. Of the $72 million spent on about 1.3 million investigations in fiscal year 1978, $62 million was for full-field investigations. Costs vary widely and cannot be compared, because there is no uniform method to develop the costs of investigations.