|
FPS Should Provide More Info to GSA |
|
|
|
|
by Mickey McCarter
|
|
Thursday, 19 November 2009 |
Identify tech options, share sensitive info, GAO says
The Federal Protective Service (FPS) must address weaknesses in its risk assessment methodology, its approach to recommending security countermeasures, and its information-sharing practices to improve its ability to protect US federal buildings, congressional investigators said Wednesday.
FPS is somewhat limited in its capabilities to carry out its mission to secure federal buildings owned and managed by the General Services Administration (GSA) because GSA and its tenant agencies do not necessarily have to follow the advice of the security agency, acknowledged the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in its report Homeland Security: Greater Attention to Key Practices Would Improve the Federal Protective Service's Approach to Facility Protection.
However, GSA and the federal agencies occupying GSA buildings sometimes do not follow the advise of FPS because it does not always provide information in a timely fashion and often does not provide them with alternatives to consider when making security decisions, the GAO report noted.
GAO called FPS' risk assessment process "subjective" and "time-consuming," making some FPS risk assessments unappealing to some federal agencies.
"Concerned with the quality and timeliness of FPS's risk assessment services, GSA and tenant agencies are pursuing some of these activities on their own. Although FPS is developing a new risk management program, full implementation is not planned until the end of fiscal year 2011 and has already experienced delays," the report stated.
FPS inspectors have wide authority to select and recommend technologies to provide security countermeasures in federal buildings, the report said, but they do not receive very much training or guidance on how to make cost-effective recommendations. When making recommendations to tenant agencies, FPS also dos not analyze alternative technologies.
Providing tenant agencies with options along with their costs and estimates of risk reduction would enable tenant agencies to make the best choices for their budgets and operations, GAO suggested. FPS also would have more assurance that the recommendations of its inspectors represent the best available options for building security.
FPS is working on a program that would standardize security equipment and contracting, but it is behind schedule and lacks a means to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of alternative technologies and countermeasures, the report added.
And while FPS shares security information with GSA and its tenant agencies, it shares that information inconsistently and without regular frequency.
"Lack of coordination through regular contact can lead to communication breakdowns," the report observed. "For example, during a construction project at one location, the surveillance equipment that FPS was responsible for maintaining was removed from the site during 2007. FPS and tenant agency representatives disagree over whether FPS was notified of this action."
Finally, GSA argues that it should receive sensitive information contained in FPS risk assessments, which it currently does not. FPS insists that GSA does not require the sensitive information to perform its duties but GSA counters that withholding the information limits its ability to protect federal buildings and employees.
FPS, which recently transferred from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to the National Protection and Programs Directorate within the Department of Homeland Security, provides security services to about 9,000 federal buildings across the nation.
|
Mickey McCarter |
| About the author: |
| eNewsletter Editor/Senior Washington Correspondent,
is a journalist with more than a decade of experience in reporting
on
military affairs and information technology.
|
| Read More >> | |
Columns 
