The Mint and BEP, which are part of the Treasury Department, produce the nation’s coins and currency. The Mint primarily produces circulating coins in Denver, Colorado, and Philadelphia. It also makes numismatic coins and medals and stores over $100 billion in government precious metals at facilities in Denver; Fort Knox; Philadelphia; San Francisco, California; Washington, D.C.; and West Point, New York. BEP produces (1) the nation’s currency for the Federal Reserve System, (2) many security documents that the federal government issues, and (3) some postage stamps. Its production facilities are in Washington, D.C., and Ft. Worth, Texas. During fiscal year 2002, the Mint produced and shipped about 15 billion circulating coins at a cost of $430.9 million, including $47.2 million for security. BEP produced and shipped about 7.1 billion Federal Reserve notes in 2002 at a cost of $376.7 million, including $33.2 million for security. The authority of the Mint and BEP to establish police forces is derived from 40 U.S.C. § 1315, which provides the Mint and BEP police with powers to enforce federal laws and regulations for the protection of individuals and property, including making arrests and carrying firearms. Prior to the enactment of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, the Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA), through GSA’s Federal Protective Service (FPS), was responsible for policing government buildings under GSA’s control and had delegated this responsibility to the Secretary of the Treasury who redelegated it to the Mint and BEP. Although the Homeland Security Act amended 40 U.S.C. § 1315 by transferring responsibility for this policing authority to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the savings provisions in the act state that the existing delegations will continue to apply. Additional security legislation found in Public Law 104-208 (1996) provides Mint and BEP police officers with the authority to carry out their duties on Mint and BEP property and the surrounding areas and while transporting coins, currency, and other agency assets. The primary mission of the Secret Service is to protect the President and other individuals, enforce the nation’s counterfeiting laws, and investigate financial crimes. In carrying out this mission, the Secret Service’s Uniformed Division also protects the buildings in which the people it protects are located, such as the White House complex, the Treasury Department headquarters building and annex, the Vice President’s residence, and foreign diplomatic missions. The Uniformed Division has statutory authority to carry out its duties under 3 U.S.C. § 202 and 18 U.S.C. § 3056, including the power to make arrests, carry firearms, and execute warrants issued under the laws of the United States. The Secret Service’s jurisdiction extends throughout the United States on mission-related work. The Mint and BEP use their own police forces to protect their facilities and the money they produce. Eight of the 12 coin and currency organizations in the other G7 nations responded to our requests for information. Four organizations reported that they only used their own security forces; 2 organizations said they used their own security forces supplemented with contractor personnel; 1 organization said it used an outside agency to supplement its own security force; and 1 organization said that it used an outside agency to provide its security. The six casino and banking businesses that we contacted, which handle large amounts of cash, used either their own security staff or contract staff. In general, the businesses that used their own employees to provide security said they did so to maintain greater control over their security operations, while the businesses that used contract security personnel generally said they did so because it was less costly. Mint and BEP Police Forces As of March 2003, the Mint had 381 police officers. It also employed 38 people to provide administrative support for its security operations. BEP had 209 police officers as of March 2003. It also employed 36 people to provide administrative support for its security operations. In addition, BEP employed 79 security specialists, investigators, and security managers who BEP does not count as police officers, but who are licensed and trained to carry firearms and can provide back-up for the police. BEP conducts most of its own background investigations, while the Mint contracts out this work. The Mint and BEP police primarily provide security by guarding entry and exit at the agencies’ facilities and conducting electronic surveillance. In contrast to the Secret Service, which is concerned primarily with protecting individuals and, as part of that mission, controlling public access into protected facilities, the Mint and BEP police are focused on preventing employees from taking coins and currency from the facilities. Both the Mint and BEP police use outside experts to conduct threat assessments regarding their facilities and to make recommendations for security improvements. The Mint and BEP police provide security for production facilities that are not located in the same cities. The Mint police provide protection at the primary coin production facilities in Denver and Philadelphia; the facilities in San Francisco and West Point, which produce numismatic coins; the Ft. Knox facility, where gold and other precious metals are stored; and the Mint’s Washington, D.C., headquarters. The BEP police provide protection at BEP’s Washington, D.C., headquarters and at currency production facilities in Washington, D.C., and Ft. Worth. Because both the Mint and BEP protect money producing facilities, the two agencies have considered merging their police forces. According to the Mint, a combined police force could exercise greater flexibility in deploying security personnel in response to emergencies. However, the Mint also said that (1) because of the geographic dispersion of the Mint’s and BEP’s production facilities, the number of police positions that could be eliminated through a merger of the police forces would be limited and (2) all Mint and BEP police officers would have to be trained in the security aspects of both the coin and currency production processes. BEP management was opposed to merging the Mint and BEP police forces because the centralization of the forces would not necessarily lead to a more effective security effort, and these officials raised questions regarding managerial controls, allocation of resources and funds, and accountability. BEP management noted that because Mint and BEP production facilities are not located in the same cities, local supervision still would be needed at each facility. Although the Mint and BEP are not pursuing a merger of their police forces, they are considering sharing certain security-related functions. In April 2003, Mint and BEP officials met to discuss the sharing of security-related services and agreed to share intelligence information, and they are studying the feasibility of jointly conducting drug testing and background investigations. Appendix II provides specific information regarding Mint and BEP police forces in terms of the facilities they protect, job classifications, number of police, application requirements, starting salaries, attrition rates, and training requirements. We sent questionnaires to both the coin and currency producing organizations in the six other G7 nations (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom) requesting information about who provides their security and whether they had experienced thefts from 1993 through 2002. Eight of the 12 coin and currency producing organizations responded to our requests for information. Four organizations reported that they only used their own security forces; 2 organizations said they used their own security forces supplemented with contractor personnel; 1 organization said it used its own security force and personnel from the country’s customs agency; and 1 organization said that the country’s Ministry of Defense provided its security. Two of the 8 organizations reported that they had experienced thefts of $1,000 or more over the last 10 years; 1 of those organizations was protected by its own security force, and the other was protected by the country’s Ministry of Defense. The organization that was protected by its own security force reported experiencing two thefts. One incident involved an employee’s theft of gold that was worth about $40,000. The other incident involved two employees’ theft of error coins worth about $1,000 to coin collectors. The second organization, which was protected by the country’s Ministry of Defense, reported that currency worth about $40,200 was stolen from its facilities. The other 6 organizations that responded said they had not experienced any thefts of $1,000 or more over the last 10 years. We contacted four banks and two casinos regarding who provides their security and why because, like the Mint and BEP, these entities also handle large amounts of cash. The security director for one banking company said that it only uses its own security guards in its major cash vault facilities, which may contain hundreds of millions of dollars. He said that from his company’s assessment of risk factors and experiences, it appeared that its own well-trained, well-paid security guards are more dependable, reliable, and honest than contract guards. The security directors at the three other banks we interviewed said that they used contract security personnel to provide their security because of the cost advantages compared with hiring in-house staff. Of those three companies that used contract guards, one also used in-house staff to supervise contract personnel and to guard its cash vault operations. Security directors from two major casino companies both said that they employ their own security staff, rather than using contract staff. The security director of the first company said that using its own security staff provides the company with more control, for example, by conducting background investigations on staff to ensure their suitability. Similarly, the security director of the second company said that it is difficult to maintain supervisory control or take corrective actions over contract security officers. The Federal Reserve System, the nation’s central bank, employs its own police force. Security personnel were granted federal law enforcement authority under the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA Patriot) Act of 2001.