GAO examines best place for Federal Protective Service

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently studied eight potential parent agencies for the Federal Protective Service (FPS) and discovered none of them met all the key organizational placement criteria.

Currently part of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD), FPS has moved from two parent agencies in the past 15 years. FPS protects approximately 9,000 federal facilities and their occupants.

“DHS has not taken key steps to fully assess potential placement options,” the GAO report stated. “Specifically, DHS has not assessed the organizational structure of FPS, such as its placement in NPPD, even though FPS and NPPD have evolved since FPS was placed in NPPD in 2010. Standards for Internal Control state that agency management should establish an organizational structure to achieve the agency’s objectives and that an effective management practice for attaining this outcome includes periodically evaluating the structure to ensure that it has adapted to changes.”

FPS and NPPD do have some similar goals, including the protection of infrastructure, but they also differ in some tasks.

GAO recommends the Secretary of Homeland Security should identify the specific goals of a change in FPS’s placement and should fully evaluate placement options.

FPS was previously part of the General Services Administration and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.