GAO said that for the most part, FPS no longer provides proactive patrols at GSA facilities to detect and prevent incidents, and that FPS continues to face problems managing its contract guard program and ensuring that security countermeasures, such as security cameras and magnetometers, are operational.
For example, FPS told GAO it has investigated crimes at multiple high-risk facilities, but because security cameras were offline investigators were unable to identify suspects.
FPS is moving to an inspector-based workforce that it hopes will give staff the right mix of technical skills and training and is hiring an additional 150 employees, but GAO raised doubts as to whether such a position would be able to fulfill both law enforcement and physical security roles simultaneously.
The agency also faces funding challenges. It charges tenant agency fees but for fiscal 2005 and 2006 its projected expenses exceeded its collections.
FPS also instituted cost-saving measures such as restricting hiring and travel and limiting training and overtime, but it’s affected morale and increased attrition, GAO said.
It also said FPS lacks a reliable data management system for accurately tracking performance measures.
