GSA serves as federal agencies’ landlord and designs, builds, manages, and maintains federal facilities. According to fiscal year 2013 data, over 8,900 buildings in the United States are held or leased by the GSA, and these buildings provide workspace for over 1-million federal employees and average 1.4-million daily visitors. FPS, a subcomponent of the National Protection and Programs Directorate within DHS, is the primary agency responsible for providing law enforcement and related security USMS, a component of DOJ, has received services at GSA buildings.delegations of authority for building security from GSA and has primary responsibility for providing the security for federal judicial facilities and personnel. Security screening consists of the electronic, visual, or manual inspection or search of persons, vehicles, packages, and containers for detecting the possession or attempted introduction of prohibited items including illegal and other dangerous items into a federal facility or secure area within a federal facility. An individual in possession of or attempting to introduce a prohibited item, including an illegal or dangerous item into a federal building, is considered an individual who may pose a security threat. For the purposes of this report, we focused our efforts on the security screening of persons at access control points. This process varies at each federal building based on a variety of factors, but a visitor to a FSL IV federal building, for example, may undergo a full security screening, which may include a protective security officer or court security officer checking his or her government-issued identification, having his or her belongings go through an x-ray machine, and the visitor physically walking through a walk-through magnetometer. Federal employees may undergo different levels of security screening at a federal building depending on a variety of security-related factors unique to that building. Screening of federal employees may range from a protective security officer or court security officer verifying that the employee has a valid government-issued identification card or an agency-issued credential, to full screening that would require the employee to go through a similar process as a visitor to a FSL IV federal building, as described above. FPS’s protective security officers—contract security guards—are the most visible component of FPS’s operations, as well as the first contact with federal agencies for individuals entering a federal building. FPS relies heavily on its protective security officers and considers them to be the entity’s “eyes and ears” while performing their duties. FPS protective security officers are responsible for controlling access to federal buildings, conducting security screening at access control points, enforcing property rules and regulations, detecting and reporting criminal acts, and responding to emergency situations involving building safety and security. FPS protective security officers (1) control access to federal buildings by checking the identification of government employees who work there as well as members of the public who visit, and also (2) operate security- screening equipment, such as x-ray machines and walk-through magnetometers, to ensure prohibited items—including illegal items, such as firearms, explosives, knives, and drugs—do not enter federal buildings. In general, FPS protective security officers do not have arrest authority, but can detain individuals who are being disruptive or pose a danger to public safety. According to FPS, it has around 13,000 protective security officers at approximately 2,700 of the 8,900 FPS- protected federal buildings across its 11 regions. Of those, FPS conducts security screening of visitors and employees at approximately 2,400 buildings. FPS’s budget for fiscal year 2014 was over $1.3 billion. USMS has primary responsibility for protecting the federal judicial process by ensuring safe and secure conduct of proceedings and protecting federal judges, jurors, and members of the visiting public, in GSA buildings housing the judiciary. USMS’s responsibilities include managing court security officers and security systems and equipment, including x- ray machines, surveillance cameras, duress alarms, and judicial chambers’ entry control devices. USMS court security officers, also contract security guards, are responsible for screening for and intercepting weapons and other prohibited items from individuals attempting to bring them into federal courthouses. USMS court security officers also assist in providing security at facilities that house federal court operations. According to USMS, as of May 2014, USMS court security officers conducted entrance security screening at 410 federal buildings, 121 of which (approximately 30 percent) are multi-tenant federal buildings across the 94 federal court districts. USMS oversees the daily operation and management of security services performed by more than 5,000 court security officers. The USMS’s fiscal year 2014 enacted budget totaled more than $2.7 billion across multiple appropriations, with nearly $460 million designated for judicial and courthouse security. The Judicial Conference of the United States is the principle policy-making body for administering the federal court system, and its Committee on Judicial Security recommends security policies for federal judges and courts. The Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AOUSC) coordinates with the federal courts, USMS, FPS, and GSA to implement the judiciary’s security program. Since FPS is responsible for enforcing federal laws and regulations, and providing building entry and perimeter security at GSA buildings, among other responsibilities, FPS and USMS seek to closely coordinate security activities for federal buildings that contain courtrooms and judicial officers. The responsibilities for FPS and USMS are defined as part of a 1997 memorandum of agreement. More specifically, in multi-tenant federal buildings that are primarily courthouses (i.e., judicial or judicial-related space comprise more than 75 percent of the building), USMS provides court security officers for security screening at access control points at the building entrances, access control, and security for all judicial areas while FPS may assist in providing perimeter-roving patrol and after hour coverage. In multi-tenant federal buildings that house federal courts, where judicial or judicial-related space comprise less than 75 percent of the building, FPS would generally provide protective security officers for security screening at access control points at the building entrances, as well as perimeter-roving patrol. USMS court security officers would conduct security screening at access control points for the judicial space within the building. Currently, there are seven courthouses participating in a pilot program where USMS has also assumed control of perimeter security. The roles and responsibilities of USMS and FPS under this pilot program are outlined in a 2008 memorandum of understanding. The ISC develops governmentwide physical security standards and best practices for federal security professionals responsible for protecting nonmilitary federal buildings in the United States. The ISC was established in 1995 by Executive Order 12977 following the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The ISC is an interagency organization chaired by the DHS and is comprised of representatives from more than 50 federal agencies and departments. FPS is a member agency of the ISC, along with other federal entities such as GSA, USMS, SSA, and the federal judiciary. Executive Order 12977 directs each executive agency and department to cooperate and comply with the ISC policies and recommendations issued pursuant to the order. The ISC’s mission is to enhance the quality and effectiveness of the security and protection of nonmilitary federal buildings in the United States and to provide a permanent body to address continuing governmentwide security issues for these facilities. For example, in February 2013, the ISC developed a baseline list of items that are prohibited in federal buildings in order to provide some consistency. Federal management regulations identify items generally prohibited from being introduced into a federal building—such as explosives, firearms, or other dangerous weapons—except for law enforcement purposes (and other limited circumstances). The ISC standard also establishes a process for preventing prohibited items from entering into federal buildings and identifies responsibilities for denying entry to those individuals who attempt to enter with such items. Federal buildings vary in their assigned FSL and implemented security countermeasures. FPS is to coordinate with the building tenants, law enforcement and intelligence partners, and other stakeholders to gather information and identify the risks unique to each building being assessed. The initial evaluation of risks is used by FPS in calculating the FSL proposal. The facility security committee or court security committeethen uses this proposal to establish the final FSL determination. FPS and USMS are to work in partnership with tenant facility security committees and court security committees to build a consensus regarding the type of countermeasures appropriate for each individual facility. Facility security committees and court security committees, which are composed of representatives of tenant entities at federal buildings and other stakeholders, have broad latitude in determining the security measures appropriate for their facility. The decision regarding the optimal combination of physical countermeasures (such as security barriers, x-ray machines, closed circuit television, and number and type of security- screening access control points staffed by FPS protective security officers and USMS court security officers) is based on a variety of factors. These factors include a facility security assessment report conducted by FPS,the FSL, and the security needs of individual tenants. It is important to note that facility security committees and court security committees, rather than FPS and USMS, render the final decision regarding the number and type of security-screening access control points and technical countermeasures that are to be installed in each individual building. Facility security committees and court security committees have broad latitude in determining which items, if any, can be prohibited in their respective facilities, in addition to those specifically prohibited by law, as discussed later in the report. FPS and USMS experience a range of challenges in their efforts to provide effective security screening. Such challenges can create a complex environment in which to conduct effective security screening. These challenges include: (1) building characteristics and location that may limit security options; (2) balancing security and public access; (3) operating with limited resources; (4) working with multiple federal tenants; and (5) effectively informing the public of prohibited items.