Tweet
Contract guards at Social Security Administration headquarters and other Baltimore facilities dozed on the job, left their posts unstaffed and had "excessive errors" on forms used to track work hours, according to a newly released audit by the agency's inspector general.
Under a 2008 contract, worth up to $242 million over 10 years, Paragon Systems handles security at the agency's main complex, National Computer Center and Security West buildings, according to the audit report, conducted between January and November of last year.
Based on 221 observations of security posts at the three facilities, the IG found all guards armed and in uniform. In some instances, however, guards were not checking identification of people entering buildings, were dozing or were loitering in personal conversations, the report said.
The inspector general also found numerous corrections on the registers used to record work hours, which raised a concern "that the guards were crossing out the actual time they left a post and writing in another time to conceal an open post." In a performance review running from April 2009 through March 2010, an SSA contracting officer rated Paragon's quality of service as "poor."
The inspector general cited no security breaches that resulted from the failings flagged by its auditors. In a statement released Monday, the company called the report misleading and said that it did not reflect steps taken since last spring. Those steps include assigning an onsite quality control monitor, replacing the project manager and realigning corporate oversight of the contract, the statement said.
Paragon, based in Chantilly, Va., is owned by Pinkerton Government Services, a subsidiary of the Swedish firm Securitas AB. Paragon's board includes former Drug Enforcement Administration chief Asa Hutchinson, former Rep. Michael Oxley, R-Ohio, and Ralph Basham, former commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, according to its website.
Among five recommendations, the inspector general urged the Social Security Administration to require Paragon to strictly enforce post procedures and ensure that employees comply with sign-in and sign-out procedures. SSA managers either agreed with the recommendations or to take other steps to deal with the problems spelled out in the report.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Where was FPS since they should be working with the guards?
Under a 2008 contract, worth up to $242 million over 10 years, Paragon Systems handles security at the agency's main complex, National Computer Center and Security West buildings, according to the audit report, conducted between January and November of last year.
Based on 221 observations of security posts at the three facilities, the IG found all guards armed and in uniform. In some instances, however, guards were not checking identification of people entering buildings, were dozing or were loitering in personal conversations, the report said.
The inspector general also found numerous corrections on the registers used to record work hours, which raised a concern "that the guards were crossing out the actual time they left a post and writing in another time to conceal an open post." In a performance review running from April 2009 through March 2010, an SSA contracting officer rated Paragon's quality of service as "poor."
The inspector general cited no security breaches that resulted from the failings flagged by its auditors. In a statement released Monday, the company called the report misleading and said that it did not reflect steps taken since last spring. Those steps include assigning an onsite quality control monitor, replacing the project manager and realigning corporate oversight of the contract, the statement said.
Paragon, based in Chantilly, Va., is owned by Pinkerton Government Services, a subsidiary of the Swedish firm Securitas AB. Paragon's board includes former Drug Enforcement Administration chief Asa Hutchinson, former Rep. Michael Oxley, R-Ohio, and Ralph Basham, former commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, according to its website.
Among five recommendations, the inspector general urged the Social Security Administration to require Paragon to strictly enforce post procedures and ensure that employees comply with sign-in and sign-out procedures. SSA managers either agreed with the recommendations or to take other steps to deal with the problems spelled out in the report.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Where was FPS since they should be working with the guards?
Comment