Senate Homeland Security Ranking Member Susan Collins reacted to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, revealing serious operational and management challenges facing the Federal Protective Service (FPS). The report, requested by Senator Collins along with a bipartisan group of other Senators, revealed numerous challenges that could compromise federal building security, including inadequate staffing and broken security equipment, as well as heavy reliance on contract security guards who are not sworn law enforcement officers and do not have arrest powers.
“FPS is a key component of our nation’s security and must be able to function effectively to carry out its important law enforcement mission,” said Sen. Collins. “While I am pleased that efforts have been made to address financial concerns which are a root cause of the problems facing FPS, GAO has identified many other issues that must still be resolved. FPS no longer proactively patrols federal facilities to detect and prevent criminal incidents and terrorism-related activities. It has reduced hours of operation in many locations and has experienced difficulties maintaining security equipment such as cameras, x-ray machines, and magnetometers. As a result, other government agencies are not getting the security they pay FPS to provide. I will continue to work with FPS and my colleagues on the Committee to ensure FPS can protect our federal building infrastructure.”
FPS is responsible for protecting approximately 9,000 properties, including those in Maine, which are owned or leased by the federal government from terrorism and other criminal activity. It also safeguards border crossing stations in Maine.
Approximately 1,100 FPS employees and 15,000 contract security guards protect the more than one million federal workers who spend their days in these buildings, in addition to millions of Americans who visit for government services, as tourists, or for other reasons.