Federal Uniformed Police: Selected Data on Pay, Recruitment, and Retention at 13 Police Forces in the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Area
Published: 2003-06-13T00:00:00

Fast Facts:

Highlights:
section_title: Why GAO Did This Study
paragraphs: Officials at several federal uniformed police forces in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area have raised concerns that disparities in pay and retirement benefits have caused their police forces to experience difficulties in recruiting and retaining officers. These concerns have increased during the past year with the significant expansion of the Federal Air Marshal Program, which has created numerous relatively high-paying job opportunities for existing federal uniformed police officers and reportedly has lured many experienced officers from their uniformed police forces. GAO's objectives were to (1) determine the differences that exist among selected federal uniformed police forces regarding entry-level pay, retirement benefits, and types of duties; (2) provide information on the differences in turnover rates among these federal uniformed police forces, including where officers who separated from the police forces went and the extent to which human capital flexibilities were available and used to address turnover; and (3) provide information on possible difficulties police forces may have faced recruiting officers and the extent to which human capital flexibilities were available to help these forces recruit officers.
section_title: What GAO Found
paragraphs: During fiscal year 2002, entry-level police officer salaries varied by more than $10,000 across the 13 police forces, from a high of $39,427 per year to a low of $28,801 per year. Four of the 13 police forces received federal law enforcement retirement benefits. Between October 1, 2002, and April 1, 2003, 12 of the 13 police forces received pay increases, which narrowed the pay gap for entry-level officers at some of the 13 forces. Officials at the 13 police forces reported that while officers performed many of the same types of duties, the extent to which they performed specialized functions varied. Total turnover at the 13 police forces nearly doubled (from 375 to 729) between fiscal years 2001 and 2002. Additionally, during fiscal year 2002, 8 of the 13 police forces experienced their highest annual turnover rates over the 6-year period, from fiscal years 1997 through 2002. Sizable differences existed in the turnover rates among the 13 federal uniformed police forces during fiscal year 2002. The availability and use of human capital flexibilities to retain employees, such as retention allowances, varied. GAO found that the increase in the number of separations (354) across the 13 police forces between fiscal years 2001 and 2002 almost equaled the number of officers (316) who left their forces to join the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Given that the buildup in staffing for TSA's Federal Air Marshal Program has been substantially completed, the increase in turnover experienced in fiscal year 2002 at 12 of the 13 police forces may have been a one-time occurrence. Officials at 9 of 13 police forces reported at least some difficulty recruiting officers. However, none of the police forces used important human capital flexibilities, such as recruitment bonuses and student loan repayments, during fiscal year 2002.

section_title: Letter
paragraphs: Recent events, including the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, have  highlighted the importance of ensuring proper security at federal facilities.  As the headquarters location for many federal agencies, the Washington,  D.C., metropolitan area is home to numerous federal uniformed police  forces. Officials at some of these police forces have raised concerns that  disparities in pay and retirement benefits have caused their police forces  to experience difficulties in recruiting and retaining officers. These  concerns increased with the significant expansion of the Federal Air  Marshal Program, which created numerous relatively high-paying job  opportunities for existing federal uniformed police officers and reportedly  lured many experienced officers from their uniformed police forces.
This report responds to your request that we review recruitment and  retention issues at selected federal uniformed police forces in the  Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). As agreed with your  offices, our objectives for this report were to (1) determine the differences  that exist among these federal uniformed police forces regarding entry- level pay, retirement benefits, and types of duties; (2) provide information  on the differences in turnover rates among these federal uniformed police  forces, including where officers who separated from the police forces  went and the extent to which human capital flexibilities were available  and used by the police forces to address turnover; and (3) provide  information on the possible difficulties police forces may have  experienced in recruiting police officers and the extent to which human  capital flexibilities were available to help these police forces to recruit  officers.
As agreed with your offices, we limited the police forces in our review to  the 13 federal uniformed police forces with 50 or more officers in the  Washington MSA as of September 30, 2001, because we wanted to focus on  the forces with the largest number of officers. To address our objectives,  we interviewed officials from and reviewed documents provided by the  following federal uniformed police forces: Bureau of Engraving and  Printing Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Police, Federal  Protective Service, Government Printing Office Police, Library of Congress  Police, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Police, Pentagon Force  Protection Agency, Supreme Court Police, U.S. Capitol Police, U.S. Mint  Police, U.S. Park Police, U.S. Postal Service Police, and the U.S. Secret  Service Uniformed Division. We also interviewed officials at the  Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Office of Personnel  Management (OPM). We developed a data collection instrument (survey)  regarding recruitment and retention and distributed the survey to the   13 federal uniformed police forces. We analyzed the results and followed- up with agency officials when data were incomplete or inconsistent. We  performed our work in Washington, D.C.; Maryland; and Virginia between  August 2002 and May 2003 in accordance with generally accepted  government auditing standards.
subsections: section_title: Background
paragraphs: Although the specific duties police officers perform may vary among  police forces, federal uniformed police officers are generally responsible  for providing security and safety to people and property within and  sometimes surrounding federal buildings. There are a number of federal  uniformed police forces operating in the Washington MSA, of which   13 had 50 or more officers as of September 30, 2001. Table 1 shows the   13 federal uniformed police forces included in our review and the number  of officers in each of the police forces as of September 30, 2002.
On November 25, 2002, the Homeland Security Act of 2002 was enacted  into law. The act, among other things, restructured parts of the executive  branch of the federal government to better address the threat to the United  States posed by terrorism. The act established a new Department of  Homeland Security (DHS), which includes two uniformed police forces  within the scope of our review—the Federal Protective Service and the  Secret Service Uniformed Division. These police forces were formerly  components of the General Services Administration and the Department of  the Treasury, respectively. Another component of DHS is the TSA, which  protects the nation’s transportation systems. TSA, which was formerly a  component of the Department of Transportation, includes the Federal Air  Marshal Service, which is designed to provide protection against hijacking  and terrorist attacks on domestic and international airline flights. The  Federal Air Marshal Program increased significantly after the September  11, 2001, terrorist attacks, resulting in the need for TSA to recruit many Air  Marshals during fiscal year 2002. By fiscal year 2003, the buildup in the  Federal Air Marshal Program had been substantially completed. Federal  Air Marshals are not limited to the grade and pay step structure of the  federal government’s General Schedule. As a result, TSA has been able to  offer air marshal recruits higher compensation and more flexible benefit  packages than many other federal police forces.
Federal uniformed police forces operate under various compensation  systems. Some federal police forces are covered by the General Schedule  pay system and others are covered by different pay systems authorized by  various laws. Since 1984, all new federal employees have been covered by  the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). Federal police forces  provide either standard federal retirement benefits or federal law  enforcement retirement benefits.
Studies of employee retention indicate that turnover is a complex and  multifaceted problem. People leave their jobs for a variety of reasons.  Compensation is often cited as a primary reason for employee turnover.  However, nonpay factors, such as age, job tenure, job satisfaction, and job  location, may also affect individuals’ decisions to leave their jobs.
During recent years, the federal government has implemented many  human capital flexibilities to help agencies attract and retain sufficient  numbers of high-quality employees to complete their missions. Human  capital flexibilities can include actions related to areas such as  recruitment, retention, competition, position classification, incentive  awards and recognition, training and development, and work-life policies.  We have stated in recent reports that the effective, efficient, and  transparent use of human capital flexibilities must be a key component of  agency efforts to address human capital challenges. The tailored use of  such flexibilities for recruiting and retaining high-quality employees is an  important cornerstone of our model of strategic human capital  management.
section_title: Scope and Methodology
paragraphs: To address our objectives, we identified federal uniformed police forces  with 50 or more officers in the Washington MSA—13 in all. Specifically, we  reviewed OPM data to determine the executive branch federal uniformed  police forces with 50 or more police officers in the Washington MSA. We  reviewed a prior report issued by the Department of Justice’s Bureau of  Justice Statistics and our prior reports to determine the judicial and  legislative branches’ federal uniformed police forces with 50 or more  police officers in the Washington MSA.
In addressing each of the objectives, we interviewed officials responsible  for human capital issues at each of the 13 police forces and obtained  documents on recruitment and retention issues. Using this information, we  created a survey and distributed it to the 13 police forces to obtain  information on (1) entry-level officer pay and benefits, types of officer  duties, and minimum entry-level officer qualifications; (2) officer turnover  rates and the availability and use of human capital flexibilities to retain  officers; and (3) difficulties in recruiting officers, and the availability and  use of human capital flexibilities to improve recruiting. We reviewed and  analyzed the police forces’ responses for completeness and accuracy and  followed-up on any missing or unclear responses with appropriate  officials.
Where possible, we verified the data using OPM’s Central Personnel Data  File. In reviewing duties performed by police officers at the 13 police  forces, we relied on information provided by police force officials and did  not perform a detailed analysis of the differences in duties and  responsibilities. Additionally, due to resource limitations, we did not  survey officers who separated from the police forces to determine their  reasons for leaving. We obtained this information from officials at the  police forces. Although some of the police forces have police officers  detailed at locations throughout the country, the data in this report are  only for officers stationed in the Washington MSA. Therefore, these data  are not projectable nationwide.
section_title: Entry-Level Pay and Benefits Varied among the Police Forces
paragraphs: Entry-level pay and retirement benefits varied widely across the 13 police  forces. Annual pay for entry-level police officers ranged from $28,801 to  $39,427, as of September 30, 2002. Officers at 4 of the 13 police forces  received federal law enforcement retirement benefits, while officers at the  remaining 9 police forces received standard federal employee retirement  benefits. According to officials, all 13 police forces performed many of the  same types of general duties, such as protecting people and property and  screening people and materials entering and/or exiting buildings under  their jurisdictions. Eleven of the 13 police forces had specialized teams  and functions, such as K-9 and/or SWAT. The minimum qualification  requirements and the selection processes were generally similar among  most of the 13 police forces.
At $39,427 per year, the U.S. Capitol Police, Library of Congress Police,  and Supreme Court Police forces had the highest starting salaries for  entry-level officers, while entry-level officers at the NIH Police and Federal  Protective Service received the lowest starting salaries at $28,801 per year.  The salaries for officers at the remaining 8 police forces ranged from  $29,917 to $38,695. Entry-level officers at 5 of the 13 police forces received  an increase in pay, ranging from $788 to $1,702, upon successful  completion of basic training. Four of the 13 police forces received federal  law enforcement retirement benefits and received among the highest  starting salaries, ranging from $37,063 to $39,427. Figure 1 provides a  comparison of entry-level officer pay and retirement benefits at the   13 police forces.
Entry-level officers at 12 of the 13 police forces (all but the U.S. Postal  Service Police) received increases in their starting salaries between  October 1, 2002, and April 1, 2003. Entry-level officers at three of the four  police forces (FBI Police, Federal Protective Service, and NIH Police) with  the lowest entry-level salaries as of September 30, 2002, received raises of  $5,584, $4,583, and $4,252, respectively, during the period ranging from  October 1, 2002 through April 1, 2003. In addition, entry-level officers at  both the U.S. Capitol Police and Library of Congress Police—two of the  highest paid forces—also received salary increases of $3,739 during the  same time period. These pay raises received by entry-level officers from  October 1, 2002, through April 1, 2003, narrowed the entry-level pay gap  for some of the 13 forces.  For example, as of September 30, 2002, entry- level officers at the FBI Police received a salary $8,168 less than an entry- level officer at the U.S. Capitol Police. However, as of April 1, 2003, the pay  gap between entry-level officers at the two forces had narrowed to $6,323.  Figure 2 provides information on pay increases that entry-level officers  received from October 1, 2002, through April 1, 2003, along with entry-level  officer pay rates as of April 1, 2003.
The Secret Service noted that the Uniformed Division has full police powers in Washington, D.C.,  and that it further has the authority to perform its protective duties throughout the United States.
Although there are similarities in the general duties, there were differences  among the police forces with respect to the extent to which they  performed specialized functions. Table 3 shows that 11 of the 13 police  forces reported that they performed at least one specialized function;  2 police forces (Government Printing Office Police and U.S. Postal Service  Police) reported that they did not perform specialized functions.
The minimum qualification requirements and the selection processes were  generally similar among most of the 13 police forces. As part of the  selection process, all 13 police forces required new hires to have  successfully completed an application, an interview(s), a medical  examination, a background investigation, and a drug test. Each force also  had at least one additional requirement, such as a security clearance or  physical fitness evaluation. The U.S. Postal Service Police was the only  force that did not require a high school diploma or prior law enforcement  experience. For additional information on qualification requirements and  the selection process for the 13 police forces, see appendix IV.
section_title: Sizable Differences in Turnover Rates among the 13 Police Forces
paragraphs: Total turnover at the 13 police forces nearly doubled from fiscal years   2001 to 2002. Additionally, during fiscal year 2002, 8 of the 13 police forces  experienced their highest annual turnover rates over the 6-year period,  from fiscal years 1997 through 2002. There were sizable differences in  turnover rates among the 13 police forces during fiscal year 2002. NIH  Police reported the highest turnover rate at 58 percent. The turnover rates  for the remaining 12 police forces ranged from 11 percent to 41 percent. Of  the 729 officers who separated from the 13 police forces in fiscal year  2002, about 82 percent (599), excluding retirements, voluntarily separated.
About 53 percent (316) of the 599 officers who voluntarily separated from  the police forces in fiscal year 2002 went to TSA. Additionally, about   65 percent of the officers who voluntarily separated from the 13 police  forces during fiscal year 2002 had fewer than 5 years of service on their  police forces.
The total number of separations at all 13 police forces nearly doubled  (from 375 to 729) between fiscal years 2001 and 2002. Turnover increased  at all but 1 of the police forces (Library of Congress Police) over this  period. The most significant increases in turnover occurred at the Bureau  of Engraving and Printing Police (200 percent) and the Secret Service  Uniformed Division (about 152 percent). In addition, during fiscal year  2002, 8 of the 13 police forces experienced their highest annual turnover  rates over the 6-year period, from fiscal years 1997 through 2002.   Figure 3 displays the total number of separations for the 13 police forces  over the 6-year period.
The turnover rates at the 13 police forces ranged from 11 percent at the  Library of Congress Police to 58 percent at the NIH Police in fiscal year  2002. In addition to the NIH Police, 3 other police forces had turnover  rates of 25 percent or greater during fiscal year 2002. The U.S. Mint Police  reported the second highest turnover rate at 41 percent, followed by the  Bureau of Engraving and Printing Police at 27 percent and the Secret  Service Uniformed Division at 25 percent. Table 4 shows that at each of  the 13 police forces, turnover was overwhelmingly due to voluntary  separations—about 18 percent (130) of turnover was due to retirements,  disability, and involuntarily separations.
There was no clear pattern evident between employee pay and turnover  rates during fiscal year 2002. For example, while some police forces with  relatively highly paid entry-level officers such as the Library of Congress  Police (11 percent) and the Supreme Court Police (13 percent) had  relatively low turnover rates, other police forces with relatively highly paid  entry-level officers such as the U.S. Mint Police (41 percent), Bureau of  Engraving and Printing Police (27 percent), and Secret Service Uniformed  Division (25 percent) experienced significantly higher turnover rates.  Additionally, turnover varied significantly among the 5 police forces with  relatively lower paid entry-level officers. For example, while the Federal  Protective Service (19 percent) and NIH Police (58 percent) entry-level  officers both received the lowest starting pay, turnover differed  dramatically.
Likewise, no clear pattern existed regarding turnover among police forces  receiving federal law enforcement retirement benefits and those receiving  traditional federal retirement benefits. For example, entry-level officers at  the Library of Congress Police, U.S. Capitol Police, and Supreme Court  Police all received equivalent pay in fiscal year 2002. However, the Library  of Congress (11 percent) had a lower turnover rate than the Capitol Police  (13 percent) and Supreme Court Police (16 percent), despite the fact that  officers at the latter 2 police forces received federal law enforcement  retirement benefits. In addition, while officers at both the Park Police   (19 percent) and Secret Service Uniformed Division (25 percent) received  law enforcement retirement benefits, these forces experienced higher  turnover rates than some forces such as U.S. Postal Service Police   (14 percent) and FBI Police (17 percent), whose officers did not receive  law enforcement retirement benefits and whose entry-level officers  received lower starting salaries.
More than half (316) of the 599 officers who voluntarily separated from the  police forces in fiscal year 2002 went to TSA—nearly all (313 of 316) to  become Federal Air Marshals where they were able to earn higher salaries,  federal law enforcement retirement benefits, and a type of pay premium  for unscheduled duty equaling 25 percent of their base salary. The number  (316) of police officers who voluntarily separated from the 13 police forces  to take positions at TSA nearly equaled the increase in the total number of  separations (354) that occurred between fiscal years 2001 and 2002.
About 25 percent (148) of the voluntarily separated officers accepted other  federal law enforcement positions, excluding positions at TSA, and about  5 percent (32 officers) took nonlaw enforcement positions, excluding  positions at TSA. Furthermore, about 9 percent (51) of the voluntarily  separated officers took positions in state or local law enforcement or  separated to, among other things, continue their education. Officials were  unable to determine where the remaining 9 percent (52) of the voluntarily  separated officers went. Table 5 provides a summary of where officers  who voluntarily separated in fiscal year 2002 went.
Figure 4 shows a percentage breakdown of where the 599 officers who  voluntarily separated from the 13 police forces during fiscal year 2002  went.
Although we did not survey individual officers to determine why they  separated from these police forces, officials from the 13 forces reported a  number of reasons that officers had separated, including to obtain better  pay and/or benefits at other police forces, less overtime, and greater  responsibility. Without surveying each of the 599 officers who voluntarily  separated from their police forces in fiscal year 2002, we could not draw  any definitive conclusions about the reasons they left. For additional  details on turnover at the 13 police forces, see appendix II.
The use of human capital flexibilities to address turnover varied among  the 13 police forces. For example, officials at 4 of the 13 police forces  reported that they were able to offer retention allowances, which may  assist the forces in retaining experienced officers, and 3 of these police  forces used this tool to retain officers in fiscal year 2002. The average  retention allowances paid to officers in fiscal year 2002 were about   $1,000 at the Pentagon Force Protection Agency, $3,500 at the Federal  Protective Service, and more than $4,200 at the NIH Police. The police  forces reported various reasons for not making greater use of available  human capital flexibilities in fiscal year 2002, including  lack of funding for human capital flexibilities,  lack of awareness among police force officials that the human capital  flexibilities were available, and  lack of specific requests for certain flexibilities such as time-off awards or  tuition reimbursement.
The limited use of human capital flexibilities by many of the 13 police  forces and the reasons provided for the limited use are consistent with our  governmentwide study of the use of such authorities. In December 2002,  we reported that federal agencies have not made greater use of such  flexibilities for reasons such as agencies’ weak strategic human capital  planning, inadequate funding for using these flexibilities given competing  priorities, and managers’ and supervisors’ lack of awareness and  knowledge of the flexibilities. We further stated that the insufficient or  ineffective use of flexibilities can significantly hinder the ability of  agencies to recruit, hire, retain, and manage their human capital.  Additionally, in May 2003, we reported that OPM can better assist agencies  in using human capital flexibilities by, among other things, maximizing its  efforts to make the flexibilities more widely known to agencies through  compiling, analyzing, and sharing information about when, where, and  how the broad range of flexibilities are being used, and should be used, to  help agencies meet their human capital management needs. For  additional information on human capital flexibilities at the   13 police forces, see appendix III.
section_title: Most Forces Experienced Recruitment Difficulties
paragraphs: Nine of the 13 police forces reported difficulties recruiting officers to at  least a little or some extent. Despite recruitment difficulties faced by many  of the police forces, none of the police forces used important human  capital recruitment flexibilities, such as recruitment bonuses and student  loan repayments, in fiscal year 2002. Some police force officials reported  that the human capital recruitment flexibilities were not used for various  reasons, such as limited funding or that the flexibilities themselves were  not available to the forces during the fiscal year 2002 recruiting cycle.
Officials at 4 of the 13 police forces (Bureau of Engraving and Printing  Police, the FBI Police, Federal Protective Service, and NIH Police)  reported that they were having a great or very great deal of difficulty  recruiting officers. In addition, officials at 5 police forces reported that  they were having difficulty recruiting officers to a little or some extent or  to a moderate extent. Among the reasons given for recruitment difficulties  were:  low pay;  the high cost of living in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area;    difficulty completing the application/background investigation process;    better retirement benefits at other law enforcement agencies.
Conversely, officials at 4 of the 13 police forces (Library of Congress  Police, the Supreme Court Police, U.S. Mint Police, and U.S. Postal Service  Police) reported that they were not having difficulty recruiting officers.  Library of Congress officials attributed their police force’s lack of  difficulty recruiting officers to attractive pay and working conditions and  the ability to hire officers at any age above 20 and who also will not be  subject to a mandatory retirement age. Supreme Court officials told us  that their police force had solved a recent recruitment problem by  focusing additional resources on recruiting and emphasizing the force’s  attractive work environment to potential recruits. U.S. Postal Service  officials reported that their police force was not experiencing a  recruitment problem because it hired its police officers from within the  agency. Table 6 provides a summary of the level of recruitment difficulties  reported by the 13 police forces.
Although many of the police forces reported facing recruitment  difficulties, none of the police forces used human capital recruitment  tools, such as recruitment bonuses and student loan repayments, in fiscal  year 2002. For more information on human capital flexibilities, see  appendix III.
section_title: Conclusions
paragraphs: Without surveying each of the 599 officers who voluntarily separated from  their police forces in fiscal year 2002, we could not draw any definitive  conclusions about the reasons they left. However, officials at the 13 police  forces included in our review reported that officers separated from their  positions for such reasons as to (1) obtain better pay and/or benefits at  other police forces, (2) work less overtime, and (3) assume greater  responsibility.
The number of separations across the 13 police forces included in our  review increased by 354 between fiscal years 2001 and 2002. This increase  almost equaled the number (316) of officers who voluntarily separated  from their forces to join TSA. Given that TSA’s Federal Air Marshal  Program has now been established, and the buildup in staffing has been  substantially completed, the increase in turnover experienced in fiscal  year 2002 at 12 of the 13 police forces may have been a one-time  occurrence. Additionally, the recent pay increases received by officers at  12 of the 13 police forces, along with the potential implementation of  various human capital flexibilities, might also help to address recruitment  and retention issues experienced by many of the police forces.
section_title: Agency Comments
paragraphs: We requested comments on a draft of this report from each of the   13 federal uniformed police forces included in our review. We received  written comments from 12 of the 13 police forces (the Federal Protective  Service did not provide comments). Of the 12 police forces that  commented, 11 either generally agreed with the information presented or  did not express an overall opinion about the report.
In its comments, the U.S. Secret Service raised four main issues relating to  the pay, retirement benefits, and job responsibilities information. First, it  suggested that we expand our review to include information on the  compensation packages offered to separating officers, particularly those  moving to TSA. However, our objective was to provide information on pay,  retirement benefits, types of duties, turnover, and the use of human capital  flexibilities at 13 federal uniformed police forces in the Washington, D.C.  area. Our aim was not to compare the officers’ previous and new job pay,  benefits, responsibilities, or training requirements.
Second, the U.S. Secret Service suggested that we report that a pattern  existed between employee turnover and pay. However, our discussions  with human capital officials in the 13 police forces found that separating  officers provided them with a variety of reasons why they chose to leave  their police forces, including increased pay, additional benefits, greater job  satisfaction, and personal reasons. We did not contact separating officers  to determine why they decided to move to other jobs and whether the new  jobs was comparable in pay, benefits, and job responsibilities.   Nevertheless, with the information we obtained, we were unable to  discern any clear patterns between employee turnover and pay. That is,  turnover varied significantly among police forces that had similar pay for  entry-level officers.
Third, the U.S. Secret Service suggested that we calculate the differences  in retirement benefits that would accrue to officers in the different forces.   We noted in our report that different forces had different retirement plans  with significant differences in benefits. However, calculating the  retirement benefits of a hypothetical police officer at each of the forces  was beyond the scope of our review.
Finally, the U.S. Secret Service noted that fundamental differences exist  among the agencies’ authorities, responsibilities, duties, and training  requirements, and that this could account for differences in compensation.   We agree that differences exist among the 13 agencies, and we captured  many of these differences in the report. However, we did not attempt to  determine the extent to which these differences accounted for differences  in police officer compensation.
We also requested and received comments from OPM. OPM was  concerned that the data provided in our report will lead to unintended  conclusions, citing what it considered to be a lack of substantive analysis  and comparisons of the pay systems involved. OPM further commented  that the data and information we report must not serve as a basis for  modifying the pay structure, salaries, or retirement system of any of the  police forces.
Our report provides information on 13 federal uniformed police forces that  had not been previously compiled, which is useful in comparing entry-level  pay, retirement benefits, types of duties, turnover rates, and the use of  human capital flexibilities. In preparing this report, we worked closely  with these police forces to obtain reliable information on these items, as  well as the conditions and challenges confronting their operations.   Nevertheless, we agree that more comprehensive information would be  useful in deciding how best to deal with pay, benefit, and retention issues.   As the executive branch agency responsible for establishing human capital  policies and monitoring their implementation, OPM is in a good position to  perform the additional analysis it believes would be useful to draw  conclusions on such issues.
Most of the police forces and OPM provided technical comments, which  were incorporated in the report, where appropriate. The Department of  the Interior (U.S. Park Police), NIH, OPM, and the U.S. Supreme Court  provided formal letters, and the U.S. Secret Service provided an internal  memorandum, which are included in appendixes V through IX.
We are sending copies of this report to the Attorney General, Secretary of  the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Department of  Homeland Security, Secretary of the Interior, Chair of the Capitol Police  Board, the Librarian of Congress, the Public Printer, the Marshal of the  Supreme Court, the Postmaster General, the Under Secretary of  Transportation for Security, and the Directors of NIH, OPM, and the  Pentagon Force Protection Agency. We will also provide copies of this  report to the directors of each of the 13 police forces, relevant  congressional committees, and Members of Congress. We will make  copies of this report available to other interested parties upon request. In  addition, the report will be available at no charge on GAO’s Web site at  http://www.gao.gov. If you have any questions, please contact me at   (202) 512-8777 or at stanar@gao.gov or Weldon McPhail, Assistant  Director, at (202) 512-8644 or at mcphailw@gao.gov. See appendix X for  additional GAO contacts and staff acknowledgments.
section_title: Appendix I: Counties and Cities Included in the Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area
paragraphs: Washington, D.C.
section_title: Appendix II: Selected Turnover Data for the 13 Police Forces
paragraphs: Table 7 shows, among other things, that during fiscal year 2002, 12 of the  13 police forces experienced increased turnover from the prior fiscal year,  while 8 of the 13 police forces experienced their highest turnover rates  over the 6-year period, from fiscal years 1997 through 2002.
Table 8 shows that officers with fewer than 5 years of experience on their  forces accounted for about 65 percent of the voluntary separations in  fiscal year 2002.
Figure 5 shows that officers with fewer than 2 years of service on their  forces accounted for about 35 percent of the voluntary separations in  fiscal year 2002, and officers with 2 to 5 years of service comprised an  additional 30 percent.
Table 9 shows that approximately half (316) of the 599 police officers who  voluntarily separated from their forces in fiscal year 2002 went to TSA. Of  the 316 officers who went to TSA, about 53 percent (166) had fewer than   5 years of experience on their forces. An additional 19 percent (59) had   5 years to less than 10 years of experience on their forces.
Table 10 shows that about 25 percent (148) of the 599 police officers who  voluntarily separated from their forces in fiscal year 2002 took other  federal law enforcement positions. Officers with fewer than 5 years of  experience on their forces accounted for about 79 percent (117) of the  separations to other federal law enforcement positions, and officers with   5 years to less than 10 years of experience accounted for an additional   16 percent (23).
Table 11 shows that of the 13 police forces surveyed, 11 reported problems  ranging in severity from a little or some extent, to a very great extent, with  retaining officers in the Washington MSA. Of these 11 police forces,   4 characterized their agencies retention difficulties as a very great extent.  Two police forces, the Government Printing Office Police and the Library  of Congress Police, reported no difficulty with retention.
Police forces reporting difficulties indicated a number of commonalities in  terms of why officers had left the forces. Among the reasons given were    better pay at other agencies;    better benefits, including law enforcement retirement, at other agencies;    better morale at other agencies;    more challenging work at other agencies;    promotional opportunities at other agencies;  too much overtime at their police forces; and  retirements from their police forces.
Library of Congress Police officials attributed their low turnover rate to  pay, working conditions, and the fact that the force does not have any age  restrictions, which allows the force to hire older, more experienced  officers. Each of the forces with retention difficulties reported steps taken  to address the problem, including providing retention allowances,  improving training, and improving working conditions. Additionally,  officials from several police forces reported that they were considering  providing increases in retention allowances and student loan repayments  to address their retention difficulties.
Only two police forces, the Pentagon Force Protection Agency and the  Supreme Court Police, reported that the measures they had taken had  solved the retention problem to a great extent; the remaining police forces  indicated either that the measures taken had had a little or no effect or  that it was too early to determine whether the measures taken would solve  the retention problem.
section_title: Appendix III: Use of Human Capital Flexibilities
paragraphs: Table 12 illustrates the use of human capital flexibilities by the 13 police  forces included in our review. While agency officials reported that a  variety of human capital flexibilities were available across the agencies,  there was variation among agencies both in terms of the specific  flexibilities available and in the frequency of use. For instance, only 3 of  the 13 agencies reported the availability of recruitment bonuses, and none  were given in fiscal year 2002. Ten of the 13 reported the availability of  performance-based cash awards, and 9 of these agencies made these  awards in amounts averaging $109-$2,500.
section_title: Appendix IV: Recruiting Strategies and New Hire Selection Process
section_title: Appendix V: Comments from the Department of the Interior
section_title: Appendix VI: Comments from the National Institutes of Health
section_title: Appendix VII: Comments from the Office of Personnel Management
section_title: Appendix VIII: Comments from the United States Secret Service
section_title: Appendix IX: Comments from the Supreme Court of the United States
section_title: Appendix X: GAO Contacts and Acknowledgments
subsections: section_title: GAO Contacts
section_title: Staff Acknowledgments
paragraphs: In addition to the persons named above, Leo M. Barbour,   Susan L. Conlon, Evan Gilman, Kimberley Granger, Geoffrey Hamilton,  Laura Luo, Michael O’ Donnell, Doris Page, George Scott, Lou V.B. Smith,  Edward H. Stephenson, Jr., Maria D. Strudwick, Mark Tremba, and   Gregory H. Wilmoth made key contributions to this report.