The Federal Protective Service — which provides for the security and protection of federally owned and leased facilities through so-called “megacenters” — needs improved performance measures, GAO has said.
It said the centers monitor alarms and radios and dispatch FPS police officers and contract guards from four locations around the country, covering 8,300 federal facilities, about 380 million square feet, and have available for dispatch over 7,800 FPS police officers and contract guards with a budget of $23.5 million.
FPS managers assess megacenter operations by reviewing data about volume and timeliness of operations, listening to and evaluating a sample of calls between operators and FPS police officers and contract guards, and receiving informal feedback about customer satisfaction, according to GAO-06-1076.
It said however that while managers have also developed performance measures for assessing megacenter operations, the measures are of limited use because they are not always clearly stated or measurable and do not address government-wide priorities of efficiency, cost of service, and outcome.
Further, the centers do not measure the time from alarm to officer dispatch, something that could link center performance to an FPS-wide performance measure, the report said.
