Agencies struggle to provide adequate security for federal buildings

Despite a seven-year-old executive order requiring agencies to complete security assessments of all federally leased and owned properties, half of the major agencies have yet to finish their reviews, according to a new report by the General Accounting Office.

GAO found that 11 of 22 major federal agencies surveyed had completed security assessments required by an executive order issued in 1995 after the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Okla., according to the report (03-8).

The federal government owns or leases more than 3.2 billion square feet of space in more than 500,000 buildings. Agencies are responsible for protecting their own critical physical infrastructure. Many agencies, including the Energy, Commerce, State, Transportation and Veterans Affairs departments, Social Security Administration, NASA and Postal Service have all completed security assessments since the executive order was issued, but many others told GAO they were still in the process of completing their security assessments. The General Services Administration has completed assessments for all the property it owns, but assessments for the agency's leased properties are pending.

Though the security and risk assessments were in various stages of completion, GAO did find that agencies had adopted various security measures since fiscal 1996, including the installation of closed circuit television, X-ray machines, magnetometers and radiation detection equipment. Most agencies stepped up security measures after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to include testing mail for anthrax and installing bomb-detection equipment, emergency communication equipment and blast-resistant windows.

But agencies said getting landlord consent for many of the necessary security upgrades was difficult. For example, judicial offices often occupy leased space and security screening is restricted to the entrance of the assigned space. The lack of security at building entrances increases the opportunity for weapons and hazardous materials to make their way into the building, GAO said.

Other problems in implementing or strengthening security included poorly trained security guards, employee resistance to security measures, a facility's location, relationships with local governments and a lack of money.

"For example, [Transportation] reported that it knows what vulnerabilities exist at its facilities and believes it has identified appropriate security countermeasures that would minimize risk; however, without adequate funding it is limited in its ability to implement the countermeasures," the report said.

None of the responding agencies took issue with GAO's findings.