Secret Service headquarters is organized into a series of offices with different responsibilities. The Secret Service’s Office of Investigations (INV) oversees the agency’s criminal investigation mission and the field office structure. Although agents in the field support protective operations as needed, a separate cadre of agents is responsible for permanent protective details. Specifically, the Presidential Protective and Uniformed Divisions, within the Office of Protective Operations, carry out permanent protective details and assignments. The Presidential Protective Division is dedicated to the protection of the President. The Uniformed Division, subject to the supervision of the Secretary of Homeland Security, is to perform duties, as prescribed by the Director of the Secret Service, in connection with the protection of certain facilities, including the White House and the Treasury Building, among others. Figure 1 shows the Secret Service’s organizational chart. The Secret Service’s Office of Investigations operates four tiers of offices that make up districts. Specifically, there are 42 domestic districts, each led by a field office. The 42 districts are also composed of a total of 60 resident offices, 13 resident agencies, and 26 domiciles (see fig. 2). The four categories of offices are defined as follows: Field office—The largest of all the offices, field offices are located in metropolitan areas, travel hubs, and populous areas where there is generally a high demand for protective and investigative services, according to Secret Service officials. These offices are to be led by a special agent-in-charge who is also responsible for the management and staffing of contingent offices within the field office’s district. Resident office—The next largest office after a field office in size. A resident agent-in-charge is to supervise the office, which is to be staffed by at least 3 special agents, in addition to an office manager, and typically an investigative assistant. Resident agency—Generally located in more remote areas where a field or resident office is not economically feasible. A resident agency is to be led by a senior special agent (resident agent), and staffed by additional special agents as dictated by the workload, and one or more administrative employees. Domicile—Typically a single special agent who works out of his or her residence. According to Secret Service officials, in some instances, the special agent works out of another agency’s office space, such as that of a U.S. Attorney’s Office or local police department. The Secret Service collects data on the cost and performance of its individual field offices, resident offices, and resident agencies. Cost. In general, each domestic office has its own organizational code, which allows the agency to identify costs for individual offices. Office costs include salaries and benefits—regular salaries and wages (including those paid for annual, sick, and compensatory leave), geographic differentials, overtime pay, holiday pay, cash incentive awards, and relocation expenses, among others; infrastructure—rent for office and antenna space, parking, tenant improvements (office expansions or remodeling), Federal Protective Service fees, utilities, and repairs; travel—travel for protective details, investigative cases, training, and support (including conferences, office inspections, and recruitment); and other—equipment (e.g., furniture and telephones), supplies, training and services, and rental and postage. Secret Service headquarters centrally manages domestic office costs, except for those included in the “other” category, which are managed directly by the domestic offices. Specifically, Secret Service headquarters performs the budgeting for salary and benefits across the agency as well as infrastructure and travel costs. Domestic offices have their own small budgets from which to purchase items and services, such as postage and repairs to government vehicles. Performance. The Secret Service requires field offices, resident offices, and resident agencies to report on their operational activities. The Offices of Investigations and Strategic Planning and Policy use the reported data to award points to each office in accordance with 20 performance metrics. These metrics are related to the agency’s criminal investigation and protection missions (see app. II for the list of metrics and points). According to the Secret Service, the points assigned to each metric are based, in part, on the agency’s strategic plan, mission priorities, and the Quadrennial Homeland Security Review. From fiscal years 2009 through 2014, annual domestic office costs ranged from a low of $500 million in fiscal year 2010 to a high of $549 million in fiscal year 2012 (see fig. 3). The cost of the domestic field office structure accounted for approximately 29 percent of the Secret Service’s total budget, on average, across all 6 fiscal years. In fiscal year 2012, when domestic office costs peaked at $549 million, costs increased by $37.6 million when compared with costs for the prior year. Specifically, salaries and benefits increased by $20.1 million and travel costs by $18.7 million, primarily, according to Secret Service officials, because of protective duties associated with political campaigns and the general election in 2012. Over the 2 fiscal years following the election year, 2013 and 2014, salaries and benefits costs decreased by about $30.9 million and travel costs decreased by about $12.0 million. During those 2 fiscal years, the Secret Service’s domestic office workforce was reduced by 351 FTEs. According to Secret Service officials, the agency had grown to a historically high number of personnel in fiscal year 2011, with more than 7,000 total FTEs and could not sustain the size of its workforce because of increases in pay and rising health care costs. As a result, the agency had to limit hiring and allow attrition to gradually reduce the workforce. From fiscal years 2009 through 2014, salaries and benefits were the main cost driver, accounting for $416.3 million (81 percent) of the average annual total cost of domestic offices (see fig. 4). Infrastructure, travel, and other costs accounted for the remaining $100.1 million (19 percent) of the average annual total cost. Infrastructure costs accounted for $55.3 million (11 percent) of the average annual total cost of domestic offices. The key driver of infrastructure costs was leased office space, accounting for $43 million (78 percent). Travel costs accounted for $38.4 million (7 percent) of the average annual total cost of domestic offices. Other costs made up $6.4 million (1 percent) of the average annual total cost of domestic offices. From fiscal years 2009 through 2014, the average annual cost of each of the Secret Service’s 42 domestic field office districts ranged from $3 million (Little Rock) to $67 million (New York) (see fig. 5). The average annual cost per FTE in the 42 domestic field office districts ranged from $167,550 to $261,448. The variation among districts’ FTE costs can be explained by costs associated with infrastructure and travel. For example, on average, from fiscal years 2009 through 2014, the least expensive district per FTE spent almost $8,000 per FTE on infrastructure compared with the most expensive district per FTE, which spent about $28,000 per FTE given the greater cost of rent and parking. Similarly, the least expensive district per FTE spent about $9,000 per FTE on travel compared with the most expensive district per FTE, which spent about $56,000 per FTE, given the greater frequency of travel and cost of travel. Of note, from fiscal years 2009 through 2014, 51 percent of the average annual total costs of all districts are attributable to 7 of the 42 districts— New York; Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles; Chicago; Miami; Dallas; and Houston. These 7 districts also represent 49 percent of the total FTEs in domestic districts. Table 1 shows the 7 most expensive field office districts by average annual total cost. From fiscal years 2009 through 2014, the Secret Service did not accurately record salary and benefit data at the individual office level, but the data are reasonably reliable at the district level and in the aggregate. According to Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government, control activities are an integral part of an entity’s planning, implementing, reviewing, and accountability for stewardship of government resources and achieving effective results. Although control activities can vary by agency, categories of control activities that are common to all agencies include accurate and timely recording of transactions and events, which helps to ensure that all transactions are completely and accurately recorded. On the basis of our analysis, salaries and benefits costs may not have been accurately recorded for 21 of 73 resident offices and agencies from fiscal years 2009 through 2014. Specifically, 13 resident offices and resident agencies likely had their salaries and benefits costs attributed to their “parent” field offices. For example, in fiscal year 2014, the Saginaw Resident Office’s reported salaries and benefits per FTE were $15,588, far below the domestic office average of $152,918. Conversely, Saginaw’s parent field office, Detroit, had higher than expected salaries and benefits at $225,767 per FTE in the same year, and 8 resident offices and resident agencies had higher than expected salaries and benefits costs that may include the salaries and benefits of personnel in their parent field office. For example, the Tulsa Resident Office had salaries and benefits costs of about $483,000 per FTE in fiscal year 2011. In the same year, the Oklahoma City Field Office, Tulsa’s parent office, had salaries and benefits costs of about $45,000 per FTE. According to Secret Service officials, salaries and benefits costs were incorrectly attributed to certain offices because the codes that determine the office where the costs were recorded were not always set up correctly in the agency’s time and attendance system. For example, the codes in the time cards may have been established using the organizational code for the parent field office, not realizing a subcode specific to the subordinate resident agency or resident office was needed.