GAO: Federal Protective Service lacks long-term workforce plan

The agency responsible for protecting federal facilities must develop a strategic human capital plan to meet its mission successfully, according to the Government Accountability Office.

A new GAO review found that the Federal Protective Service does not have a sufficient model to guide its workforce planning. Instead, the FPS has been operating under a short-term hiring plan that does not include key components, including an ideal staff level and effective strategies for training and retention.

The lack of a workforce plan has contributed to inconsistent approaches within the service, GAO found. FPS officials in various regions told the watchdog agency that they have developed their own policies for managing their employees, including implementing processes for performance feedback, training and mentoring.

In addition to failing to provide guidance agencywide, FPS does not collect data on its employees' skills, abilities and knowledge. GAO noted that this information-gathering is crucial to identify and fill skill gaps and to perform succession planning. FPS is working to create a data management system to track this information, but the project has experienced significant delays. It likely will not have the data capability it needs until at least 2011.

While GAO found that FPS did not meet its fiscal 2008 appropriations requirement to increase staff to at least 1,200 full time employees, it now has 1,239 full time employees, including 929 law enforcement officers. As of May, however, 46 percent of the new hires had not completed basic law enforcement training and therefore are not permitted to carry out certain job duties, including carrying firearms and exercising arrest and search authorities. New law enforcement officers also are required to take physical security training, which qualifies them to conduct building security assessments. As of May, 12 percent of the new law enforcement officers had not completed this training.

FPS officials told GAO the training had been delayed primarily because it had submitted and finalized a schedule with its training center more than a year before Congress directed it to increase its staff. Adding more classes has been a challenge because of the center's limited space and instructors, FPS officials told GAO, but the service expects to have all its law enforcement security officers fully trained by September.

GAO also reviewed how satisfied federal agencies are with the level of security FPS provides them. The survey showed mixed reviews about some of the law enforcement and physical security services that agencies paid FPS $187 million in fiscal 2008 to provide. Of those surveyed, 58 percent told GAO they were satisfied with FPS' services; 7 percent said they were dissatisfied; 18 percent were neutral and 17 percent were not able to comment.

An overwhelming number of respondents -- 82 percent -- indicated that they do not use FPS as their primary law enforcement agency in an emergency, relying either on local law enforcement, the U.S. Marshals Service or the FBI.

Perhaps most important, the General Services Administration, which owns or leases many FPS-protected facilities, expressed dissatisfaction with the level of service the Federal Protective Service has provided since being transferred from GSA to the Homeland Security Department. For example, General Services Administration officials told the watchdog agency that FPS has not been responsive and timely in providing building security assessments for new leases.

GAO noted that FPS has taken steps to improve customer service through education and outreach initiatives, such as conducting focus groups and distributing a newsletter. It warned, however, that FPS likely will continue to face challenges due to a lack of complete and accurate customer contact data. Approximately 53 percent of the e-mail addresses and 27 percent of the telephone numbers for designated points of contact are missing from FPS' contact database.

"Complete and accurate contact information on its customers is critical for information sharing and an essential component of any customer service initiative," the report stated.

GAO recommended that FPS improve how it collects workforce data and use that information to develop a long-term, strategic human capital plan. It also recommended that the service collect and maintain an accurate and comprehensive list of customer contacts and further implement an education and outreach program. FPS agreed with the recommendations.