Why We Performed This Audit
We performed this audit pursuant to the Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act of 2024. This act requires us to submit a report on the impacts and costs of crime on building operations and public safety in and around federal buildings. This report is to be submitted to the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the U.S. Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the U.S. House of Representatives. Our audit objective was to determine the impacts and costs associated with GSA building operations related to crime and public safety in and around GSA-owned federal buildings.
What We Found
Crime that occurs in and around GSA-owned federal buildings can disrupt building operations and threaten the health, well-being, and safety of federal employees and visitors. Threats targeting federal buildings and employees, as well as assaults against individuals in and around federal buildings, can result in temporary building shutdowns or modified operations until the threat is mitigated. This can prevent agencies from fulfilling their statutory missions and serving the American public.
During our 4-year audit period ended September 30, 2024, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Protective Service (FPS) reported 11,090 crime incidents in and around GSA- owned federal buildings. These incidents occurred at 754 of the 1,507 GSA-owned federal buildings, with most of the incidents occurring in and around 68 GSA-owned federal buildings. The severity of the reported incidents varied from vandalism to threats against federal employees; violent crime accounted for 1 percent of the reported incidents. We determined that three factors contributed to the elevated levels of crime in and around federal buildings: (1) the proximity of the buildings to high-crime neighborhoods, (2) the types of public services offered at each building, and (3) the amount of foot traffic in and around each building.
The primary costs related to crime at GSA-owned federal buildings are for FPS-provided security services and for the implementation of countermeasures designed to mitigate security vulnerabilities. For Fiscal Year 2024, GSA reported that it paid almost $82 million for security services across the federal buildings it owns. During our audit period, FPS recommended facility security assessment countermeasures for 620 of the 754 GSA-owned federal buildings where crime incidents were reported.
Based on these assessments, FPS recommended 3,054 security countermeasures with a total estimated cost of $307 million. The responsible tenant agencies accepted 914 of these countermeasures with a total estimated cost of $64 million, and rejected 2,140 of these countermeasures with a total estimated cost of $242 million. The FPS data included a reason for the rejection for only 210 of the recommended countermeasures, primarily citing insufficient funding.
While GSA works closely with FPS and other federal law enforcement agencies to protect its buildings, the number of crime incidents, coupled with the substantial number of rejected countermeasures, demonstrates that tenants of and visitors to GSA-owned federal buildings face significant security risks. Accordingly, GSA should continue to collaborate with FPS and other federal law enforcement agencies to address these risks.
What We Recommend
We recommend that the Acting GSA Administrator continue to collaborate with federal law enforcement agencies to address security risks at GSA-owned federal buildings.
The Public Buildings Service Acting Commissioner stated that GSA agrees with the report recommendation. GSA’s written comments are included in their entirety in Appendix D.
