GAO Findings and Recommendations for FPS Guard Oversight
To secure federal facilities and protect employees and visitors, the Federal Protective Service (FPS) manages and oversees more than 13,000 contract guards, whose duties include controlling facility access and screening visitors to detect prohibited items. U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigators conducted 27 covert tests at 14 selected federal buildings in early 2024. During these tests, GAO investigators had a prohibited item inside a bag that they attempted to bring into the building. FPS contract guards failed to detect prohibited items in about half of GAO’s tests. FPS conducts its own covert tests, the results of which were consistent with GAO’s tests.
FPS developed the Post Tracking System (PTS) in response to previous GAO recommendations. Initially piloted in 2018, PTS was expected to be the system of record for ensuring that every post was staffed by a qualified guard for the correct time frames, but it has yet to be fully implemented in any region. This negatively affects the productivity of FPS’s oversight efforts. Some FPS officials also said they do not use the reports for billing the government because the data are inaccurate or incomplete. Consequently, FPS continues to use an old paper-based system for billing and oversight tasks.
GAO made four recommendations to FPS to improve covert testing and improve or replace PTS.
Date
- May 20 2025
Time
- 11:15 am - 12:00 pm
Location
Other Locations
- 1201 15th St NW, Washington, DC 20005
Speaker
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Keith B. CunninghamAssistant Director, U.S. Government Accountability OfficeKeith B. Cunningham is an assistant director of physical infrastructure issues at
the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative and
audit arm of the U.S. Congress. Cunningham has developed a broad expertise
in real property policy and management issues during his 27 years at GAO – having led the work for more than 50 GAO reports and testimony statements. His
recent work focused on real property utilization, management,
procurement, disposal, financing and security. Prior to government service,
Cunningham directed research on worldwide military base closure and reuse
efforts for the Bonn International Center for Conversion and Business
Executives for National Security. He holds a Master of Policy
Studies from Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor of Science from Miami
University.
