Security Clearances: FBI Has Enhanced Its Process for State and Local Law Enforcement Officials
Released: 2004-04-30T00:00:00

Letter

Background

The FBI primarily grants security clearances to state and local law enforcement officials who participate in FBI task forces and to state and local chiefs of police and sheriffs. Since September 11, the FBI has expanded its JTTF initiative from 35 JTTFs to 84 JTTFs. This increase in JTTFs created more opportunities for information sharing and participation by state and local officials, thus increasing the number of security clearance applications submitted to the FBI by state and local officials. After September 11, an increasing number of state and local officials who were not assigned to JTTFs began requesting security clearances to obtain terrorism-related information that might affect their jurisdictions. In some cases, state and local officials assigned to JTTFs were not able to share classified information with their state and local superiors because the superiors lacked security clearances. In addition to forming the JTTFs, the FBI launched the LEO initiative to focus on granting security clearances to officials in an executive, decision-making role who were not posted to a JTTF. According to the FBI, the launch of this initiative also increased the number of state and local security clearance applications.

Presidential Executive Order 12968, Access to Classified Information, dated August 1995, established federal executive branch criteria for granting access to classified information. As implemented by the FBI, the primary criterion for granting access to classified information is an individual’s “need to know,” which is defined as the determination made by an authorized holder of classified information that a prospective recipient requires access to specific classified information in order to perform or assist in a lawful and authorized governmental function. In addition to possessing a need to know, individuals must have a security clearance based upon a favorable adjudication of an appropriate background investigation, been briefed on the responsibilities for protecting classified information, signed a nondisclosure agreement acknowledging those responsibilities, and agreed to abide by all appropriate security requirements.

An amendment to Presidential Executive Order 12958, Executive Order 13292, issued in 2003, also allows federal agencies, including the FBI, to share classified information in an emergency with individuals who lack a prior security clearance when necessary to respond to an imminent threat to life or in defense of the homeland. Prior to this executive order, during high-priority cases when there was a threat to life, the FBI would provide pertinent information to those with a need to know by granting them interim clearances.

Federal Government- Wide Policies Apply to State and Local Officials Seeking FBI- Issued Security Clearances

Federal government-wide policies, as implemented by the FBI, apply to state and local officials seeking FBI-issued security clearances. The security clearance process for state and local officials involves six broad steps that consist of the (1) FBI field office officials’ determining the applicant’s need to know classified national security information and level of clearance required, (2) applicant’s submission of application materials to an FBI field office, (3) applicant fingerprinting and interview conducted by FBI field office officials, (4) FBI field officials’ routing of application materials to FBI headquarters and the FBI investigators’ completion of a background investigation, (5) FBI headquarters’ adjudication of clearance applications based on federal government adjudication standards, and (6) notification of an adjudication.

General FBI Criteria for Granting Security Clearances Apply Equally to FBI Employees and State and Local Officials

The FBI’s policies for granting access to classified information requires state and local officials to undergo the same background investigation and adjudication procedures as do individuals who have an employment relationship with the FBI or other federal government agencies and require access to classified national security information. The FBI received its authority to grant security clearances from the Department of Justice in 1993 (see fig. 1). Presidential Executive Order 12968, Access to Classified Information, dated August 1995, established federal executive branch criteria for granting access to classified information. The FBI’s Manual of Investigative Operations and Guidelines outlines the bureau’s policies and procedures for investigating and adjudicating various categories of security clearance cases, including FBI employees, contractors, and state and local officials. The FBI cannot grant a security clearance to any individual based simply on the individual’s rank or position. Police chiefs, for example, are not automatically granted security clearances and must undergo the same procedures as all other individuals.

State and local officials do not have a direct employment relationship with the FBI, but sometimes they require access to FBI workspaces and classified information. The procedures for conducting background investigations and granting access to classified information are identical to those for all FBI cases. For example, the FBI requires a background investigation of the last 10 years of a person’s life for all individuals in need of a top secret security clearance. This also applies to state and local officials.

Various FBI and Non-FBI Stakeholders Involved in Six-Step Security Clearance Process

Generally, state and local officials’ contact with the FBI is primarily through the local FBI field office, and field office management is personally held accountable by FBI headquarters for all security clearance applications processed through their offices. Nevertheless, a number of stakeholders, including state and local officials themselves, are involved in various parts of the application process which, as figure 2 depicts, can be summarized in six steps.

Step 1: Determining Need

To initiate the security clearance application process, state and local officials first identify the individuals in their departments who require access to classified information, taking into consideration JTTF assignments, internal staffing needs, and FBI field office guidance. Once individuals are identified, the FBI field office specify the need to know for each individual, which in turn determines the appropriate level of the security clearance: top secret or secret.

Step 2: Submission of Application Materials

Next, FBI field officials distribute application materials to the selected state and local officials. The instructions for completing the application materials (see fig. 3) require the applicant to provide information reaching back 10 years, and must include all previous employment, residences, foreign travel and contacts, and references. The applicant also signs a statement authorizing access to his or her credit records.

Step 3: Applicant Interview

Upon submission of the application materials, an FBI field office official reviews the materials, conducts a face-to-face interview, and fingerprints the applicant (see fig. 4). In addition, the FBI is moving toward requiring all security clearance applicants to undergo a polygraph examination to be completed during the security interview. FBI field office officials summarize the information collected for submission to the FBI headquarters.

Step 4: Routing and Investigation

According to FBI headquarters guidance, the FBI field office also must compile a portion of the investigative information for submission to FBI headquarters within 10 days of receipt of the application. However, the FBI was not able to estimate the actual processing time for these preliminary tasks. This procedure opens the investigation and corresponds to the beginning of FBI headquarters’ involvement in the security clearance application process.

Following the opening of the case, FBI headquarters conducts government-wide required security clearance National Agency Checks. Such inquiries include checks of the National Crime Information Center, fingerprint checks, and Office of Personnel Management and Defense Clearance and Investigations Index inquiries . FBI headquarters then refers the case to the FBI's Background Investigation Contract Service (BICS) Unit. BICS conducts background investigations for FBI security clearance applications, including applications from state and local officials. Typical background investigations include verification of citizenship, credit, and criminal history checks. For a top secret security clearance, the background investigation includes additional checks such as the verification of education, employment, and residences within the past 10 years. Interviews of friends, coworkers, supervisors, and neighbors also are conducted. The background investigation may be expanded if an applicant has resided abroad or has a history of mental health disorders, drug or alcohol abuse.

Step 5: Adjudication

Once all required background information has been submitted to FBI headquarters, the adjudicator assigned to the case reviews the information. In some cases, the adjudicator must request additional leads to follow up on information uncovered in the investigation that might increase the risk of granting the individual access to classified information. To confirm or mitigate information collected, the adjudicator may require a second interview with the applicant. For example, if a negative credit history is uncovered, the applicant may be asked how he or she is attempting to remedy that situation.

The adjudicator summarizes this information in a report, which includes a recommendation as to whether to grant a security clearance based on 13 federal government-wide adjudicative standards. These standards include an assessment of the applicant’s allegiance to the United States, personal conduct, mental health, and associations with undesirable persons or foreign nationals, among other things. A supervisory official reviews this recommendation and grants final approval. In cases where a denial of clearance is recommended, the adjudicator’s unit chief also must review the report.

Step 6: Notification and Activation

According to the FBI, the same day the adjudication is made regarding whether to grant access to classified information, the FBI field office is notified. In cases of a favorable decision, according to FBI policies, the FBI field office then has 10 days to set up a security briefing with the applicant. The security clearance does not take effect until the security briefing has been completed and the applicant has signed a non-disclosure agreement. Documentation of the interview and the signed agreement are sent to FBI headquarters to record that the clearance has taken effect.

The FBI Processed the Majority of Top Secret Security Clearances within its Time Frame Goals; Secret Security Clearances Generally Missed the Time Frame Goals, but Improvements Have Been Made

The FBI’s goal for processing top secret security clearance applications is 6 to 9 months, and its goal for processing secret security clearance applications is 45 to 60 days, though actual completion times can vary from case to case. The majority of the applications the FBI received for top secret security clearances since September 11, were processed within the FBI’s stated time frame goals. In contrast, the majority of secret applications received since September 11, were not processed within the FBI’s time frame goals. However, during the last half of 2003 the FBI nearly doubled its success rate for completing secret security clearance applications within its time frame goals.

The FBI Processed the Majority of Top Secret Applications from State and Local Officials within its Time Frame Goals

The FBI’s goal is to process top secret security clearance applications in 6 to 9 months, though actual completion times can vary from case to case. The FBI has received 1,211 applications for top secret security clearances since September 11, 2001. Of the top secret applications received, about 835 were granted and 276 were pending at the time our review. The FBI denied clearances to 7 applicants.

The FBI often assigns greater priority to processing applications for state and local JTTF members, who are required to have top secret clearances. Consequently, as figure 5 shows, about 92 percent of the 835 applications for top secret security clearances granted were processed within the FBI’s time frame goal of 6 to 9 months since September 11. Of the 276 top secret security clearance applications that were still pending completion at the time of our review, over 90 percent were processed within the FBI’s time frame goal of 6 to 9 months.

As noted earlier, the FBI’s average actual time frame for processing top secret security clearances for state and local officials has declined since September 11. As shown in figure 6, the average number of days for completing a top secret security clearance application declined from 244 days in the last quarter of 2001 to 70 days in the third quarter of 2003.

The FBI Generally Fell Short of Its Time Frame Goals for Processing Secret Security Clearances, but It Has Improved Its Processing Times in the Last Six Months

The FBI’s time frame goal for granting secret security clearances is 45 to 60 days, though actual completion times can vary from case to case. The FBI received 2,363 applications for secret security clearances from state and local officials since September 11. Of the secret security clearance applications received, 2,021 had been granted and 267 were pending at the time of our review. The FBI did not deny any secret security clearance applications.

The FBI processed about 26 percent of secret applications within its time frame goals, as shown in figure 7. The remainder, about 72 percent, were granted in more than 60 days.

An analysis of the last 6 months of data collected during our review shows that the FBI has begun to process secret applications more quickly. The FBI received about 483 secret security clearance applications between June 2003 and December 2003. About 46 percent of those applications were processed within the FBI’s time frame goals (see fig. 8), nearly doubling the success rate for completing secret security clearance applications within the designated time frame goals.

The FBI has also improved its overall actual completion time frames for secret security clearance applications since the second quarter of 2003, as shown in figure 9. The average number of days for processing a secret security clearance application was about 90 in the last quarter of 2001. By the fourth quarter of 2002, the average number of days for processing a secret security clearance application had risen to about 115, and in the third quarter of 2003, the average number of days declined to about 60.

Various Factors Could Affect the FBI’s Processing Time Frames

FBI officials stated that the bureau’s time frame goals are approximate averages and actual completion times can vary depending on a number of factors. For example, numerous past residences or foreign travel can extend the time it takes to conduct a background investigation. In addition, background investigations can take additional time when information from the applicant’s application does not match the information collected during investigation interviews. FBI guidance to state and local officials states that the processing time for each application will vary depending on its complexity. Also, according to a DOJ official, the number of applications in the FBI’s queue, as well as the FBI’s staffing resources, affect the time needed to process a security clearance application. According to FBI officials, the volume of security clearance applications increased substantially after September 11.

Although the FBI’s security clearance process begins when a need for a clearance is determined, as shown in figure 2, the FBI does not begin to track the processing of security clearance applications until after the FBI field office completes its preliminary tasks and forwards the application package to FBI headquarters. These preliminary tasks can include checks with the internal affairs unit of the department where the official is employed, administering a polygraph examination, and verifying citizenship with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The official must also undergo a face-to-face personnel security interview. Though guidance to FBI field offices requires that these tasks be performed and the application forwarded to headquarters within 10 days of receipt of the security clearance application, the FBI was not able to estimate the actual processing time for these preliminary tasks. According to the FBI, the time required to perform the initial steps of the process varies by field office and is dependent on the unique circumstance of each candidate. For example, state and local officials who are located in a law enforcement agency that is distant from the FBI field office may require additional time to schedule tasks that take place at the field office. According to FBI officials, the time frames for completion of these preliminary tasks may also depend on the laws, regulations, policies, and union agreements that may affect the local police agency.

The FBI and State and Local Officials Have Identified Process Impediments and the FBI Has Taken Steps to Enhance the Security Clearance Process and Information Sharing

The FBI has undertaken various steps to enhance its process for granting security clearances to state and local officials and to facilitate information sharing with state and local law enforcement agencies. Since September 11, the FBI has consulted with state and local officials to collect their views and recommendations regarding information sharing and improving the security clearance process. The FBI identified state and local officials’ unfamiliarity with the requirements for processing security clearance applications as one of the main impediments to timely processing of applications. To improve understanding of its policies for granting security clearances, the FBI published an informational brochure for state and local officials and continued to meet with state and local law enforcement organizations. The FBI also developed policy guidance and a checklist of procedures for FBI field office officials, added staff to the headquarters unit responsible for processing state and local security clearance applications, and developed database resources at headquarters to track applications. To promote information sharing between the FBI and state and local law enforcement agencies, in 2002 and 2003, the FBI increased the number of JTTFs and encouraged state and local officials to participate in this and other information-sharing initiatives. In addition, the FBI distributed terrorism-related bulletins to state and local agencies and has made terrorist threat-related information available via various FBI electronic networks.

State and Local Officials and the FBI Have Consulted to Identify Ways to Improve the Security Clearance and Information Sharing Processes

In response to an increased interest in information sharing between the FBI and state and local law enforcement agencies following the terrorist attacks of September 11, high-level FBI officials met with state and local law enforcement leaders to discuss ways to prevent or respond to terrorist attacks. These discussions included ways to improve information sharing between the FBI and state and local law enforcement agencies, as well as the FBI’s requirements and process for granting security clearances. According to FBI officials, representatives of major state and local law enforcement groups continue to meet periodically with the FBI Director and other FBI officials.

In addition, the FBI created the Office of Law Enforcement Coordination (OLEC), which is headed by a former city police chief, to address state and local officials’ concerns. OLEC’s general responsibilities include serving as the FBI’s primary liaison to national law enforcement associations and communicating the perspectives of state and local law enforcement agencies to the FBI. In addition to participating in state and local law enforcement organizations’ meetings with the FBI Director, OLEC staff regularly attend conferences of state and local law enforcement organizations and respond to inquiries from state and local officials.

In addition to the FBI’s direct consultation with state and local officials, after September 11, some state and local law enforcement organizations expressed their members’ concerns regarding information sharing with the FBI and the FBI’s security clearance application process. These organizations shared their members’ views with the FBI via white papers, and through meetings and conversations with FBI officials, including OLEC representatives. Officials from the FBI’s Security Division, which houses the units responsible for processing security clearance applications and granting access, also participated in many of these activities.

FBI Field Office Officials and State and Local Officials Initially Lacked Understanding of the Security Clearance Application Process and Expressed Other Concerns

According to FBI and state and local officials, initially following September 11, there was little understanding of, and some confusion regarding the security clearance process among both FBI field office and state and local officials. According to an FBI official, some FBI field office and state and local officials lacked guidance for identifying individuals in need of security clearances. According to an FBI official, some police chiefs or officers equated receiving a security clearance with status or importance, or believed they should be granted a clearance based solely on their status. According to an FBI official, failure to understand or follow FBI guidelines for identifying individuals in need of a security clearance initially resulted in an unnecessary increase in the number of applications submitted. For example, one FBI official stated that a police agency had asked for security clearances for most of its officers, rather than for the one or two officials who needed a clearance.

In addition, according to representatives of some law enforcement professional organizations, some state and local officials said they did not have adequate guidance for filling out and submitting the appropriate application forms. According to FBI officials, in some cases, state and local officials were reluctant or refused to provide the information required to conduct the background investigation. For example, police chiefs sometimes omitted negative information because they feared it might affect their standing in the community (e.g., past drug use or poor credit). If an incomplete application was submitted, it had to be sent back to the individual for completion, extending the time required to investigate and process an application. State and local officials expressed discontent with the time frames for processing a security clearance application, as well as dissatisfaction with their inability to check the status of their security clearance applications.

FBI Outreach to State and Local Officials Helped Clarify Security Clearance Requirements and Time Frames

With the assistance of the newly created OLEC, in November 2002, the FBI distributed an informational brochure to state and local law enforcement agencies to help improve these officials’ understanding of the FBI’s security clearance requirements and process. The FBI also made this brochure available on its Web site. According to FBI guidance, this brochure, shown in figure 10, is included in the packet of application materials given to state and local security clearance applicants.

In addition to distributing this brochure, FBI officials have attended conferences and meetings of national law enforcement organizations. OLEC officials have fielded requests for information, as well as complaints, from state and local officials. For example, state and local officials who wanted to know the status of their applications sometimes contacted OLEC officials. FBI officials acknowledged that it is extremely difficult to give status updates when a background investigation is under way; the FBI can tell an applicant simply whether the investigation is complete or is still being processed. This may not always satisfy the interests of state and local officials requesting updates on the status of the application.

Representatives of some law enforcement professional organizations we interviewed stated that the FBI’s guidance and consultation with these organizations has helped improve state and local officials’ understanding of the security clearance application process. An OLEC official also said these efforts had reduced the number of calls it received from state and local officials.

FBI Headquarters Provided a Checklist of Procedures for Processing Clearances, Added Staff, and Developed A Database Tool to Enhance Efficiency

To clarify FBI field office officials’ role in processing state and local security clearance applications, FBI headquarters developed policy guidance and a checklist of procedures for FBI field office officials. In an electronic communication sent in December 2002, FBI headquarters spelled out the necessary justification for granting security clearances to state and local officials and laid out processing procedures for various FBI officials. In addition, according to FBI officials, the FBI holds quarterly conference calls with FBI field office security officials to address any issues with the security clearance process.

FBI officials cited staffing shortages as an impediment to the security clearance process. According to an FBI official, the unit responsible for state and local law enforcement security clearances initially was understaffed, despite experiencing an increase in workload after September 11. To address staffing needs, the FBI created a new unit within its Security Division Personnel Security Section specifically to handle state and local law enforcement security clearance applications. The FBI also requested increased funding for the division responsible for processing security clearances. FBI officials stated that additional staff had been added to this unit, and caseloads presently are not as heavy as in the period immediately following September 11.

Following September 11, and the subsequent increase in state and local security clearance applications submitted to the FBI, the FBI Security Division designed databases to track the submission of applications and application completion dates, among other things. FBI officials said the databases have served as management tools for tracking state and local security clearance applications and monitoring application trends and percentages. These databases are to be integrated into an FBI-wide security clearance tracking database currently under development and set for rollout in the latter part of fiscal year 2004.

The FBI Established New Terrorism-Related Task Forces and Invited State and Local Officials to Participate

The FBI credits its JTTFs with enhancing its ability to coordinate its counterterrorism efforts with state and local law enforcement agencies, as well as with other government organizations. Since 1996, the FBI has continued to increase the number of JTTFs in operation across the country. By the end of fiscal year 2001, 35 JTTFs were in operation at FBI field office locations. In response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, and with additional congressional support, the FBI expanded this number to 66 by the end of fiscal year 2002, and to 84 JTTFs by the end of 2003. According to an FBI report on the JTTF program, the FBI anticipates that the number of JTTFs will increase in coming years, depending on the availability of funding. According to one FBI official, the FBI received 30 requests for additional JTTF annexes in fiscal year 2003 and was able to grant 18 of these.

As of fiscal year 2003, more than 800 state and local officials served full- time on these forces, along with FBI and other federal government officials. The FBI encourages state and local officials in cities with established or newly created JTTFs to join these forces. FBI field office executives work with their state and local law enforcement counterparts to make JTTF assignments according to staff and other resource availability.

In addition, the FBI also established the National Joint Terrorism Task Force (National JTTF) in July 2002, to coordinate the FBI’s local JTTFs. In addition to federal agency officials, state and local officials also serve on the National JTTF, which plans to establish a fellowship program for state and local law enforcement officers.

The FBI Utilizes Bulletins and Information Networks to Share Information with State and Local Officials

In addition to the JTTFs and the LEO initiative, which was created to provide classified information to state and local officials, the FBI utilizes several means of disseminating terrorism-related information to agencies and individuals outside the FBI, including state and local officials. On a weekly basis, the FBI distributes Intelligence Bulletins, which are tailored specifically for state and local officials. According to a DOJ inspector general’s report, the intent of sending these bulletins is to raise general awareness of terrorism-related issues, though some information may help state and local officials detect or uncover criminal activity related to international terrorism. The FBI also distributes Quarterly Terrorist Threat Assessments to state and local officials. These reports provide a general overview of the terrorist threat and provide summaries of events in different regions in the world that might have an impact on this threat.

In addition to distributing these bulletins, the FBI grants state and local officials access to various unclassified networks and databases. State and local officials generally make use of the Law Enforcement Online database and network, as well as the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System, over which the FBI sends e-mail messages. The FBI also posts names from its Terrorist Watch List on the National Crime Information Center database and state and local law enforcement personnel can access the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. Other efforts, though less widespread, include regular meetings of some FBI field office supervisory agents in charge with state and local officials to discuss terrorism-related investigations taking place in their jurisdictions.

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation

The Department of Justice and the FBI provided comments on a draft of this report. The Department of Justice and the FBI generally concurred with our findings, and the FBI provided technical comments, which were incorporated as appropriate.

We are providing copies of this report to the Ranking Minority Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts. We will also make copies available to others on request. In addition, the report will be made available at no charge on GAO’s Web site at http:/www.gao.gov.

If you or your staff have any questions, please contact me at (202) 512-8777 or by e-mail at ekstrandl@gao.gov or Charles Michael Johnson, Assistant Director, at (202) 512-7331. Other key contributors to this report are Todd M. Anderson, Leo Barbour, Nettie Richards, and Jerry Sandau.

Appendix I: Scope and Methodology

To describe the FBI’s processes for granting security clearances to state and local officials, we reviewed presidential executive orders, Security Council guidelines, and the Code of Federal Regulations for federal government-wide criteria for granting access to classified national security information (NSI). We reviewed Department of Justice (DOJ) guidance delegating the authority to grant access to classified NSI to the FBI. We also reviewed copies of the relevant sections of the FBI’s Manual of Investigative Operations and Guidelines, as well as copies of guidance sent to FBI field office officials. We reviewed a copy of the brochure the FBI distributed to state and local law enforcement organizations and agencies. We also interviewed officials from DOJ, Justice Management Division. For background on classified information and granting access, we interviewed the Director of the Information Security Oversight Office at the National Archives and Records Administration, as well as staff from our Security and Safety office. We gathered additional information from interviews with officials from the FBI’s Security Division Personnel Security Section, which oversees the unit responsible for granting security clearances to state and local officials.

To determine the extent to which the FBI is meeting its timeliness goals for processing security clearances for state and local officials, we analyzed data from the FBI Security Division’s state and local law enforcement security clearance databases collected between September 2001 and December 2003. These data generally included case numbers, beginning and ending dates of background investigations, adjudication resolution, and level of clearance granted, among other things. We determined that the data were suitable and sufficiently accurate for the purpose of our review. We obtained additional context for understanding the FBI’s data through interviews with FBI Security Division officials.

To describe the efforts undertaken by the FBI to enhance its state and local law enforcement security clearance and information-sharing processes, we reviewed a variety of reports and studies, including literature published by state and local law enforcement organizations. We also interviewed representatives of state and local law enforcement organizations, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), Major Cities Chiefs Association, Police Executive Research Forum, National Association of Chiefs of Police, and the National Sheriffs Association. We also attended an IACP annual conference panel session on the FBI’s information-sharing initiatives. We conducted interviews with FBI Security Division officials, as well as a representative of FBI’s Office of Law Enforcement Coordination. We also obtained and reviewed planning, organization, budget, and staffing documentation from the FBI.

We performed our work from July 2003 to March 2004 in Washington, D.C., in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. We requested comments on a draft of this report from the Department of Justice and the FBI.