Today's Article
If Homeland Security
can't adequately
protect our federal
buildings, how can it
protect us?
can't adequately
protect our federal
buildings, how can it
protect us?
The American Spark
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Government Report Says Federal Building Security Inadequate
By Cliff Montgomery
The Homeland Security Department division which helps provide security for federal buildings is failing to produce
adequate evaluations of its officer dispatch hubs, according to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report.
The report, issued on Oct. 31st, said Federal Protective Service (FPS) MegaCenters that monitor building security and
dispatch agency enforcement officers from hubs in Colorado, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Maryland, lack efficiency
evaluations, including how long it takes to dispatch an officer after an alarm is activated.
FPS and the contract guards it hires watch over and protect more than 8,300 federal buildings. When an alarm sounds in
any FPS-guarded building, a MegaCenter is notified. An operator then contacts the agency in charge of the building, as
well as FPS police officers, contract guards and local first responders. In fiscal 2006, FPS centers received $23.5 million
in funding.
The GAO report noted that while FPS does have measures to evaluate its officers, those evaluations do not pertain to all of
the MegaCenters' operations. The report chiefly recommended that FPS officials create a performance evaluation for
MegaCenters which is "linked to the FPS-wide response time... [covering] the scope of the MegaCenters' operation, from
alarm to dispatch."
The GAO report also advised the agency to routinely monitor the dispatch hubs' performance.
In a September response to the GAO report, the Homeland Security Department (DHS) said that officials at FPS and its
parent agency, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) bureau, have undertaken a review of MegaCenters to
determine ways to monitor performance.
"We recognize that there have been several studies and evaluations of MegaCenter technology that have identified the
need for technology upgrades," wrote Steven Pecinovsky of DHS' GAO liaison office.
"ICE officials anticipate that the current assessment will have a meaningful impact on FPS technology capabilities,"
Pecinovsky added.
An anonymous source familiar with FPS' operations told Government Executive magazine that the agency should be careful
in developing its measures. To do justice to both the MegaCenter operator and the responding officers, response times
should take into consideration the conditions faced by responders, the source said.
Some of the basic GAO findings are quoted below:
"FPS MegaCenters provide three primary security services--alarm monitoring, radio monitoring, and dispatching of FPS
police officers and contract guards. These and other services are provided around the clock from four locations--Battle
Creek, Michigan; Denver, Colorado; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Suitland, Maryland.
"With a fiscal year 2006 budget of $23.5 million, the MegaCenters monitor alarms at over 8,300 federal facilities, covering
almost 381 million square feet, and have available for dispatch over 7,800 FPS police officers and contract guards.
"FPS MegaCenter managers assess MegaCenter operations through a variety of means, including 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. FPS managers have also
developed performance measures for assessing MegaCenter operations.
"However, these 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--which are among the attributes that GAO has
identified for successful performance measures.
"In addition, the MegaCenters do not measure a key activity--the time from alarm to officer dispatch--that would link
MegaCenter performance to an FPS-wide performance measure of response time. Without a corresponding measure, FPS
is limited in its ability to evaluate the MegaCenters’ contribution to the FPS-wide measure of response time.
"Nine selected security organizations--including federal and local police and private entities--offer some of the
MegaCenters’ services as well as provide and assess these services in a manner that is generally similar to the
MegaCenters. Like the MegaCenters, many of the selected organizations have centralized their operations. They also use
regular call reviews and volume and time measures to assess the quality of the services they provide.
"A major difference between the MegaCenters and some selected organizations is the use of a computer-aided dispatch
system, which enables these organizations to automate many functions.
"GAO recommends that the Secretary of Homeland Security direct FPS to:
(1) establish MegaCenter performance measures that meet the attributes of successful performance measures;
(2) develop a performance measure for the MegaCenters that corresponds to the FPS-wide performance measure of
response time, and
(3) routinely assess the extent to which MegaCenters meet established performance measures.
"DHS generally agreed with the findings and recommendations in this report."
By Cliff Montgomery
The Homeland Security Department division which helps provide security for federal buildings is failing to produce
adequate evaluations of its officer dispatch hubs, according to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report.
The report, issued on Oct. 31st, said Federal Protective Service (FPS) MegaCenters that monitor building security and
dispatch agency enforcement officers from hubs in Colorado, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Maryland, lack efficiency
evaluations, including how long it takes to dispatch an officer after an alarm is activated.
FPS and the contract guards it hires watch over and protect more than 8,300 federal buildings. When an alarm sounds in
any FPS-guarded building, a MegaCenter is notified. An operator then contacts the agency in charge of the building, as
well as FPS police officers, contract guards and local first responders. In fiscal 2006, FPS centers received $23.5 million
in funding.
The GAO report noted that while FPS does have measures to evaluate its officers, those evaluations do not pertain to all of
the MegaCenters' operations. The report chiefly recommended that FPS officials create a performance evaluation for
MegaCenters which is "linked to the FPS-wide response time... [covering] the scope of the MegaCenters' operation, from
alarm to dispatch."
The GAO report also advised the agency to routinely monitor the dispatch hubs' performance.
In a September response to the GAO report, the Homeland Security Department (DHS) said that officials at FPS and its
parent agency, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) bureau, have undertaken a review of MegaCenters to
determine ways to monitor performance.
"We recognize that there have been several studies and evaluations of MegaCenter technology that have identified the
need for technology upgrades," wrote Steven Pecinovsky of DHS' GAO liaison office.
"ICE officials anticipate that the current assessment will have a meaningful impact on FPS technology capabilities,"
Pecinovsky added.
An anonymous source familiar with FPS' operations told Government Executive magazine that the agency should be careful
in developing its measures. To do justice to both the MegaCenter operator and the responding officers, response times
should take into consideration the conditions faced by responders, the source said.
Some of the basic GAO findings are quoted below:
"FPS MegaCenters provide three primary security services--alarm monitoring, radio monitoring, and dispatching of FPS
police officers and contract guards. These and other services are provided around the clock from four locations--Battle
Creek, Michigan; Denver, Colorado; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Suitland, Maryland.
"With a fiscal year 2006 budget of $23.5 million, the MegaCenters monitor alarms at over 8,300 federal facilities, covering
almost 381 million square feet, and have available for dispatch over 7,800 FPS police officers and contract guards.
"FPS MegaCenter managers assess MegaCenter operations through a variety of means, including 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. FPS managers have also
developed performance measures for assessing MegaCenter operations.
"However, these 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--which are among the attributes that GAO has
identified for successful performance measures.
"In addition, the MegaCenters do not measure a key activity--the time from alarm to officer dispatch--that would link
MegaCenter performance to an FPS-wide performance measure of response time. Without a corresponding measure, FPS
is limited in its ability to evaluate the MegaCenters’ contribution to the FPS-wide measure of response time.
"Nine selected security organizations--including federal and local police and private entities--offer some of the
MegaCenters’ services as well as provide and assess these services in a manner that is generally similar to the
MegaCenters. Like the MegaCenters, many of the selected organizations have centralized their operations. They also use
regular call reviews and volume and time measures to assess the quality of the services they provide.
"A major difference between the MegaCenters and some selected organizations is the use of a computer-aided dispatch
system, which enables these organizations to automate many functions.
"GAO recommends that the Secretary of Homeland Security direct FPS to:
(1) establish MegaCenter performance measures that meet the attributes of successful performance measures;
(2) develop a performance measure for the MegaCenters that corresponds to the FPS-wide performance measure of
response time, and
(3) routinely assess the extent to which MegaCenters meet established performance measures.
"DHS generally agreed with the findings and recommendations in this report."