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HR 6122
Federal Protective Service Improvement and Accountability Act of
2010
Representative Bennie Thompson (D-MS) , Chairman
of the House Committee on Homeland Security introduced a bill
yesterday with the goal to “federalize” security officers in
Federal Buildings. HR 6122, the “Federal Protective Service
Improvement and Accountability Act of 2010 would do the
following according to the sponsor:
Increase federal security inspectors from 800 to 1350.
Require the Federal Protective Service to establish an oversight
staff to monitor contract guards at federal buildings
Establish minimum national standards for guard training. It’s
not clear if this applies only to federal buildings or would
include other private security personnel.
The bill expresses the “sense of the congress” that security
standards established by a Federal security advisory committee
be implemented for federal facilities.
The General Accountability Office (GAO) would establish a pilot
program for one year to determine if federal employees would do
a better job than contract guards at the highest risk facilities
The highest risk federal facilities would be required to
maintain a sufficient number of individuals with federal arrest
powers
GAO would also be charged with investigating the current fee
system for the Federal Protective Service which is often based
on leased square footage.
The legislation follows an investigation by GAO which found
weaknesses in some training of guards. GAO was also able to
sneak bomb-making facilities into several federal buildings.
Security Companies Organized for Legislative Action (SCOLA), a
coalition of the security, armored car and investigative
industries, discussed this issue on a conference call this
afternoon and will be following up with Chairman Thompson and
the Homeland Security Committee.
Vincent L Ruffolo,
vruffolo@arsecurity.com
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