USPS Rates Threat Level the Same at Almost All Facilities, IG Finds

An inspector general audit has found that 99 percent of postal facilities have the same security level designation—the lowest—saying that is largely because the USPS uses only one of the six standard measures for assessing the threat to federal facilities.

A report said that the Interagency Security Committee, which sets policies on assessing and vulnerability and improving security of federal facilities, recommends using six considerations—mission criticality facility size, facility population, threat level to tenant, symbolisms and intangibles—to drive decisions on security measures such as closed-circuit TV, alarms, barriers, access and control.

However, it report said that the Postal Inspection Service, which makes those determinations for USPS, uses only the first of those and further uses only three levels of possible threat rather than the recommended five.

“Without considering all relevant factors when determining the facility security level, the countermeasures required by the Postal Inspection Service and assessed by the [ISC’s Vulnerability Risk Assessment Tool] may not be commensurate with the risks faced by a particular facility. As such, facilities may face unmitigated risks, or the Postal Service may be expending resources on unnecessary security measures,” it said.

It did credit the USPS, though, for conducting risk assessments annually, which is more often than the three to five years based on threat levels in the general standards. Postal Service management cited that frequency in disagreeing with the IG’s recommendation to follow the general standards.

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