Federal Uniformed Police: Selected Data on Pay, Recruitment, and
Retention at 13 Police Forces in the Washington, D.C.,
Metropolitan Area (13-JUN-03, GAO-03-658).
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.
-------------------------Indexing Terms-------------------------
REPORTNUM: GAO-03-658
ACCNO: A07161
TITLE: Federal Uniformed Police: Selected Data on Pay,
Recruitment, and Retention at 13 Police Forces in the Washington,
D.C., Metropolitan Area
DATE: 06/13/2003
SUBJECT: Law enforcement agencies
Law enforcement personnel
Police
Retirement benefits
Strategic planning
Personnel recruiting
Hiring policies
Labor force
Compensation
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GAO-03-658
Report to Congressional Requesters
United States General Accounting Office
GAO
June 2003 FEDERAL UNIFORMED POLICE
Selected Data on Pay, Recruitment, and Retention at 13 Police Forces in
the Washington, D. C., Metropolitan Area
GAO- 03- 658
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.
Fiscal Year 2002 Turnover Among the 13 Police Forces 22% 25% 53%
135 - Separated for other reasons (e. g.- other law
enforcement positions at state or local level)
148 Took law enforcement positions at other federal agencies 316 - Went to
TSA
Source: GAO analysis of separations data provided by the 13 police forces.
4%
28 - Involuntarily separated
2%
11 - Separated on disability 599 - Total number
of police officers voluntarily separated 91 - Retired
82% 2002
729 - total number of officer separations for all 13 police forces 12%
FEDERAL UNIFORMED POLICE
Selected Data on Pay, Recruitment, and Retention at 13 Police Forces in
the Washington, D. C., Metropolitan Area
www. gao. gov/ cgi- bin/ getrpt? GAO- 03- 658. To view the full report,
including the scope and methodology, click on the link above. For more
information, contact Richard M. Stana, (202) 512- 8777, or stanar@ gao.
gov. Highlights of GAO- 03- 658, a report to
Congressional Requesters.
June 2003
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.
Page i GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police Letter 1 Results in Brief 2
Background 5 Scope and Methodology 7 Entry- Level Pay and Benefits Varied
among the Police Forces 9 Sizable Differences in Turnover Rates among the
13 Police Forces 14 Most Forces Experienced Recruitment Difficulties 21
Conclusions 23 Agency Comments 24 Appendix I Counties and Cities Included
in the Washington
Metropolitan Statistical Area 27
Appendix II Selected Turnover Data for the 13 Police Forces 28
Appendix III Use of Human Capital Flexibilities 35
Appendix IV Recruiting Strategies and New Hire Selection Process 40
Appendix V Comments from the Department of the Interior 46
Appendix VI Comments from the National Institutes of Health 47
Appendix VII Comments from the Office of Personnel Management 51
Appendix VIII Comments from the United States Secret Service 53 Contents
Page ii GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police Appendix IX Comments from
the Supreme Court of the United
States 58
Appendix X GAO Contacts and Acknowledgments 59 GAO Contacts 59 Staff
Acknowledgments 59 Tables
Table 1: Federal Uniformed Police Forces with 50 or More Officers
Stationed in the Washington MSA 5 Table 2: Types of Duties Performed by
Officers at Each of the 13
Police Forces Located in the Washington MSA 13 Table 3: Specialized
Functions Performed by Officers at Each of the 13 Police Forces 14 Table
4: Fiscal Year 2002 Turnover Rates and Separations Data for Each of the 13
Police Forces in the Washington MSA 17 Table 5: Summary of Where Officers
Who Voluntarily Separated from the 13 Police Forces in Fiscal Year 2002
Went 19 Table 6: Extent to Which Police Forces Reported Experiencing
Recruitment Difficulties in the Washington MSA 23 Table 7: Number of
Separations and Turnover Rates of Uniformed
Police Officers in the Washington MSA for Fiscal Years 1997 through 2002
28 Table 8: Fiscal Year 2002 Voluntary Separations by Years of
Experience on a Police Force for 13 Police Forces in the Washington MSA 29
Table 9: Separations to TSA in Fiscal Year 2002 by Police Force
and Years of Service on a Force for 13 Police Forces in the Washington MSA
31 Table 10: Separations to Other Federal Law Enforcement Positions,
Excluding TSA, in Fiscal Year 2002 by Years of Service on a Force for 13
Police Forces in the Washington MSA 32 Table 11: Extent to Which Police
Forces Reported Experiencing Retention Difficulties in the Washington MSA
33 Table 12: Reported Availability and Use of Human Capital Flexibilities
at 13 Police Forces in the Washington MSA 36 Table 13: Use of Recruiting
Strategies as Reported by the 13 Police Forces in the Washington MSA 42
Page iii GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police
Table 14: Minimum Qualification Requirements and Selection Process
Reported by 13 Police Forces in the Washington MSA 44 Figures
Figure 1: Pay for Entry- level Officers and Retirement Benefits for Each
of the 13 Police Forces with 50 or More Officers Stationed in the
Washington MSA as of September 30, 2002 10 Figure 2: Fiscal Year 2003 Pay
Increases for Entry- Level Officers
for Each of the 13 Police Forces with 50 or More Officers Stationed in the
Washington MSA as of April 1, 2003 12 Figure 3: Total Number of
Separations for 13 Police Forces in the
Washington MSA during Fiscal Years 1997- 2002 16 Figure 4: Percentage
Breakdown of Where 599 Officers Who Voluntarily Separated during Fiscal
Year 2002 Went 20 Figure 5: Voluntary Separations, Excluding Retirements
and Disability, by Years of Service on a Force in Fiscal Year 2002 30
Abbreviations
DHS Department of Homeland Security FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation
FERS Federal Employees Retirement System MSA Metropolitan Statistical Area
NIH National Institutes of Health OPM Office of Personnel Management TSA
Transportation Security Administration
This is a work of the U. S. Government and is not subject to copyright
protection in the United States. It may be reproduced and distributed in
its entirety without further permission from GAO. It may contain
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copyright holder may be necessary should you wish to reproduce copyrighted
materials separately from GAO*s product.
Page 1 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police June 13, 2003 The Honorable
George V. Voinovich Chairman
Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce,
and the District of Columbia
Committee on Governmental Affairs United States Senate
The Honorable Dan Burton The Honorable Dave Weldon, M. D. House of
Representatives
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). 1 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 entrylevel 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
1 The Washington MSA, as defined by the Office of Management and Budget,
includes the District of Columbia and many adjacent counties and cities.
However, the Washington MSA does not include Baltimore, Annapolis, or
Howard County. For a full list of all the cities and counties included in
the Washington MSA, see appendix I.
United States General Accounting Office Washington, DC 20548
Page 2 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police went and the extent to which
human capital flexibilities 2 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, 3 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 followedup
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.
Entry- level pay and retirement benefits varied significantly among the 13
federal police forces as of September 30, 2002. Entry- level police
officer salaries varied by more than $10,000 across the 13 police forces.
4 At
2 In broad terms, human capital flexibilities represent the policies and
practices that an agency has the authority to implement in managing its
workforce to achieve its goals. These flexibilities can include retention
allowances, recruitment bonuses, tuition reimbursement, on- site childcare
facilities, and performance- based awards, among others.
3 According to U. S. Postal Service officials, the official name of their
police force is the U. S. Postal Service Security Force. For this report,
the U. S. Postal Service Police refers to the U. S. Postal Service
Security Force.
4 Throughout the report, all salary figures are as of September 30, 2002,
unless otherwise noted. Results in Brief
Page 3 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police $39,427 per year, the U. S.
Capitol Police, Library of Congress Police, and Supreme Court Police
forces had the highest starting salaries for entrylevel
officers, while entry- level officers at the NIH Police and Federal
Protective Service received the lowest at $28,801 per year. The annual
salaries for officers at the remaining 8 police forces ranged from $29,917
to $38,695 per year. However, between October 1, 2002, and April 1, 2003,
12 of the 13 police forces (all except the U. S. Postal Service Police),
received pay increases, which narrowed the pay gap for entry- level
officers at some of the 13 forces. In addition, officers at 4 of the 13
police forces (U. S. Capitol Police, Supreme Court Police, U. S. Park
Police, and Secret Service Uniformed Division) received federal law
enforcement retirement benefits, which allowed them to retire at age 50
with a minimum of 20 years of service and required retirement at age 57.
Officers at the remaining 9 police forces received standard federal
employee retirement benefits. 5 Officials at the 13 police forces reported
that officers on these forces performed many of the same types of duties,
such as protecting people and property and conducting entrance and exit
screenings. 6 However, police force officials noted that the extent to
which officers performed specialized functions, such as K- 9 and SWAT,
varied.
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. During fiscal year 2002, significant
differences existed in the turnover rates among the 13 federal uniformed
police forces. Turnover ranged from a low of 11 percent for the Library of
Congress Police to a high of 58 percent at the NIH Police. The turnover
rates for the remaining 11 police forces ranged from 13 percent to 41
percent. Of the 729 officers who separated from the 13 police forces in
fiscal year 2002, 599 (about 82 percent) voluntarily separated. 7 Of these
599 officers, 316 (about 53 percent) went to TSA* nearly all (313 of 316)
to become Federal Air Marshals where they were able to earn higher pay, 5
To retire with full standard federal retirement benefits, employees
generally must be at
least between ages 55 and 57 with 30 years of service. The age at which
they are eligible to retire with unreduced retirement benefits depends on
the year of their birth and the specific retirement plan they are covered
by (the Civil Service Retirement System or the Federal Employees
Retirement System). Employees age 60 can retire with 20 years of service;
and employees age 62 can retire with 5 years of service.
6 We did not attempt to assess the relative difficulty of performing these
duties. 7 For this report, voluntary separation includes leaving for any
reason other than retirement, disability, or involuntary separation, such
as death, reduction- in- force, or misconduct.
Page 4 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police federal law enforcement
retirement benefits, and a type of pay premium for unscheduled duty
equaling 25 percent of their base salary. Additionally,
148 officers (about 25 percent) took other federal law enforcement
positions; 32 officers (about 5 percent) took nonlaw enforcement
positions; and 51 officers (about 9 percent) took positions in state or
local law enforcement or separated to, among other things, continue their
education. 8 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. While 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, 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. The use of
human capital flexibilities to reduce turnover varied among the 13 police
forces. For example, 3 of the 13 police forces reported that they paid
retention allowances ranging from about $1,000 to $4,200 during fiscal
year 2002. Officials from 9 of the 13 police forces reported that they
were experiencing at least a little or some difficulty recruiting police
officers. Officials at 4 of these 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 and cited pay as a major contributor to
their recruitment difficulties. Officials at 5 police forces reported that
they were having difficulty recruiting officers to a little or some extent
or to a
moderate extent. Conversely, officials at 4 of the 13 police forces
(Library of Congress Police, Supreme Court Police, U. S. Mint Police, and
U. S. Postal Service Police) reported that they were not having any
difficulty recruiting officers. Although many of the police forces
reported facing recruitment difficulties, none of them used human capital
recruitment
flexibilities, such as recruitment bonuses and student loan repayments, in
fiscal year 2002.
We provided a draft of this report to officials representing each of the
13 federal uniformed police forces included in our review, along with OPM,
and received comments from 12 of the 13 police forces and OPM. Most of
8 Officials were unable to determine where the remaining 52 (about 9
percent) of the voluntarily separated officers went.
Page 5 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police the police forces provided
technical comments, which were included as appropriate. The U. S. Secret
Service and OPM wrote detailed comments
that are discussed in our Agency Comments section on pages 24 and 25.
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.
Table 1: Federal Uniformed Police Forces with 50 or More Officers
Stationed in the Washington MSA Department Uniformed police force Number
of officers on- board
as of September 30, 2002 Executive branch Department of Defense Pentagon
Force Protection Agency 259
Department of the Interior U. S. Park Police 439 Department of Justice
Federal Bureau of Investigation Police 173 Department of the Treasury
Bureau of Engraving and Printing Police 120
U. S. Mint Police 52 U. S. Secret Service Uniformed Division 1,072 General
Services Administration Federal Protective Service 140 Department of
Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health Police 53 U. S.
Postal Service U. S. Postal Service Police 109
Legislative branch Government Printing Office Government Printing Office
Police 52 Library of Congress Library of Congress Police 129 U. S. Capitol
Police U. S. Capitol Police 1,278
Judicial branch Supreme Court Supreme Court Police 122
Total 3,998
Source: GAO analysis of data provided by the 13 police forces.
On November 25, 2002, the Homeland Security Act of 2002 was enacted into
law. 9 The act, among other things, restructured parts of the executive
branch of the federal government to better address the threat to the
United 9 P. L. 107- 296, 116 Stat. 2135 (2002). Background
Page 6 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police 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. 10 Since 1984, all new federal employees have been covered
by the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). 11 Federal police
forces
10 The General Schedule system consists of 22 broad occupational groups.
Each group includes separate series that represent occupations in that
group. The police series (GS- 0083) is within the Miscellaneous
Occupations group. OPM defines the police series as positions in which the
primary duties are the performance or supervision of law enforcement work
in the preservation of the peace; the prevention, detection, and
investigation of crimes; the arrest or apprehension of violators; and the
provision of assistance to citizens in emergency situations, including the
protection of civil rights.
11 FERS benefits are derived from three components: an annuity, a thrift
savings plan, and Social Security. The basic annuity provided under FERS
is computed on the basis of (1) years of service and (2) the 3 years of
service with the highest annual salaries (high 3). Congress intended that
the second component of FERS* the Thrift Savings Plan* be a key element of
FERS. The Thrift Savings Plan provides for an employer contribution,
including an automatic contribution of 1 percent of salary, along with a
matching contribution of up to 5 percent. Social Security benefits make up
the third component of the retirement
package. The Civil Service Retirement System annuity, which applies to
individuals hired prior to January 1, 1984, is a stand- alone annuity
based on age and years of service.
Page 7 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police provide either standard
federal retirement benefits or federal law enforcement retirement
benefits. 12 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. 13 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. 14 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
12 Under FERS, officers receiving federal law enforcement retirement
benefits receive 1.7 percent of their high 3 multiplied by the first 20
years of service and 1 percent multiplied by each year of service greater
than 20 years. Thus, a police officer who retires at age 50 with 20 years
of service would receive 34 percent of the officer*s high 3. After 30
years of service, the benefit would be 44 percent of the officer*s high 3.
Officers retiring under FERS would also receive benefits from their Thrift
Savings Plan accounts and Social Security.
13 U. S. General Accounting Office, High Risk Series: Strategic Human
Capital Management, GAO- 03- 120 (Washington, D. C.: Jan. 2003). 14 U. S.
General Accounting Office, A Model of Strategic Human Capital Management,
Exposure Draft, GAO- 02- 373SP (Washington, D. C.: Mar. 15, 2002). Scope
and
Methodology
Page 8 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police 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 15 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. 16 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. 17 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.
15 To calculate the turnover rates, we divided the total number of police
officers who separated from the police forces by the average of the number
of officers on- board at the beginning of the fiscal year and the number
of officers on- board at the end of the fiscal year. For each police
force, we included as separations both those who left the police force, as
well as those who transferred from the police officer series (GS- 0083) to
other job series within the force. 16 The Central Personnel Data File is a
database that contains individual records for most executive branch
federal employees and is the primary governmentwide source for
information on federal employees. 17 We did not have the resources to find
and confirm the addresses of all 599 officers who voluntarily separated
from the 13 police forces included in our review, which would have been
necessary to conduct a survey.
Page 9 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police 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 Pay and
Benefits Varied among the Police Forces
Page 10 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police Figure 1: Pay for Entry-
level Officers and Retirement Benefits for Each of the 13 Police Forces
with 50 or More Officers Stationed in the Washington MSA as of September
30, 2002
a Pay increase after successful completion of basic training.
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 $4,252, respectively, during the
period ranging from October 1, 2002 through April 1, 2003. In addition,
entry- level officers at
Library of Congress +$ 1,381 a
+$ 1,702 a
Federal law enforcement retirement
Supreme Court U. S. Capitol
Secret Service Park Police U. S. Mint
GPO FBI USPS
NIH 0
5,000 10,000
15,000 20,000
25,000 30,000
35,000 40,000
45,000
No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No No No No No $39,427
$39,427 $39,427
$40,808
$38,695 $37,851 $37,063 +$ 788 a
$36,613 $36,613
$32,964 $37,851
$31,262 $31,259 $29,917
$28,801 $28,801
+$ 1,381 a
$40,808
+$ 1,381 a
$40,808 Pentagon Force Protection Agency
Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Federal Protective Service
Source: GAO analysis of pay data provided by the 13 police forces.
Page 11 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police 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,
entrylevel officers at the FBI Police received a salary $8,168 less than
an entrylevel 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.
Page 12 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police Figure 2: Fiscal Year 2003
Pay Increases for Entry- Level Officers for Each of the 13 Police Forces
with 50 or More Officers Stationed in the Washington MSA as of April 1,
2003
a In late April 2003, Supreme Court Police officers were granted a pay
increase retroactive to October 1, 2002. This pay increase brought the
entry- level pay of Supreme Court officers to the same levels as those of
the Capitol Police and Library of Congress Police.
Officers at the 13 police forces reportedly performed many of the same
types of duties, such as protecting people and property, patrolling the
grounds on foot, and conducting entrance and exit screenings. Police force
officials also reported that officers at all of the police forces had the
Page 13 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police authority to make arrests.
Table 2 displays the types of duties performed by officers at each of the
13 police forces.
Table 2: Types of Duties Performed by Officers at Each of the 13 Police
Forces Located in the Washington MSA Uniformed police force
Protection of people and property Patrol in
vehicle Patrol on foot
Patrol outside agency boundary
Entrance and/ or exit
screening Crowd control Arrests
Library of Congress Supreme Court U. S. Capitol Pentagon Force Protection
Agency Secret Service a Park Police Bureau of Engraving and Printing U. S.
Mint Government Printing Office Federal Bureau of Investigation U. S.
Postal Service Federal Protective Service National Institutes of Health
Total 13 12 13 8 13 11 13
Source: GAO analysis of data provided by the 13 police forces. a 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.
Page 14 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police Table 3: Specialized
Functions Performed by Officers at Each of the 13 Police Forces Uniformed
police force K- 9 SWAT Criminal
investigation Chemical/
biological/ hazmat Traffic Bicycle Other
Library of Congress Supreme Court U. S. Capitol Pentagon Force Protection
Agency Secret Service Park Police Bureau of Engraving and Printing U. S.
Mint Government Printing Office Federal Bureau of Investigation U. S.
Postal Service Federal Protective Service National Institutes of Health
Total 8 6 9 8 9 8 8
Source: GAO analysis of data provided by the 13 police forces.
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.
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. Sizable Differences in
Turnover Rates among the 13 Police Forces
Page 15 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police About 53 percent (316) of
the 599 officers who voluntarily separated from the police forces in
fiscal year 2002 went to TSA. 18 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.
18 Of the 316 officers who went to TSA, 313 accepted law enforcement
positions and 3 accepted nonlaw enforcement positions.
Page 16 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police Figure 3: Total Number of
Separations for 13 Police Forces in the Washington MSA during Fiscal Years
1997- 2002
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.
2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997
(291) (330)
(356) (470)
(375) (729)
300 400
500 600
0 100
200 700
800 Total number of separations for all 13 police forces
Fiscal year
Source: GAO analysis of separations data provided by the 13 forces.
Page 17 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police Table 4: Fiscal Year 2002
Turnover Rates and Separations Data for Each of the 13 Police Forces in
the Washington MSA Uniformed police force
Turnover rate (in percent) Retirements a Disability
separations Voluntary separations Involuntary
separations Total separations
Library of Congress 11 5 0 9 0 14
Supreme Court 16 3 0 14 0 17
U. S. Capitol 13 10 1 143 6 160
Pentagon Force Protection Agency 13 4 1 25 3 33
Secret Service 25 39 3 234 1 277
Park Police 13 12 3 36 4 55
Bureau of Engraving and Printing 27 1 1 32 2 36
U. S. Mint 41 0 0 21 1 22
Government Printing Office 16 2 1 2 3 8
Federal Bureau of Investigation 17 1 0 30 1 32
U. S. Postal Service 14 7 1 7 1 16
Federal Protective Service 19 7 0 21 1 29
National Institutes of Health 58 0 0 25 5 30 Total 91 11 599 28 729
Source: GAO analysis of turnover data provided the 13 police forces. a
Includes both mandatory and voluntary retirements.
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
Page 18 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police 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.
Page 19 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police Table 5: Summary of Where
Officers Who Voluntarily Separated from the 13 Police Forces in Fiscal
Year 2002 Went Uniformed police
force TSA Other federal
law enforcement,
excluding TSA
State or local law enforcement
Other federal nonlaw enforcement,
excluding TSA
Other nonlaw enforcement Other Unknown
Total voluntary separations a Library of Congress 3 4 1 0 0 0 1 9
Supreme Court 5 5 2 0 1 1 0 14
U. S. Capitol 66 36 14 0 5 11 11 143
Pentagon Force Protection Agency 10 10 2 1 2 0 0 25
Secret Service 148 45 5 1 2 3 30 234
Park Police 22 6 0 1 1 5 1 36
Bureau of Engraving and Printing 12 12 3 0 0 0 5 32
U. S. Mint 18 3 0 0 0 0 0 21
Government Printing Office 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
2
Federal Bureau of Investigation 16 1 0 13 0 0 0 30
U. S. Postal Service 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 7
Federal Protective Service 7 10 0 0 1 0 3 21
National Institutes of Health 9 8 4 4 0 0 0 25 Total 316 148 31 20 12 20
52 599
Source: GAO analysis of turnover data provided by the 13 police forces. a
Excludes voluntary retirements and disability. Figure 4 shows a percentage
breakdown of where the 599 officers who
voluntarily separated from the 13 police forces during fiscal year 2002
went.
Page 20 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police Figure 4: Percentage
Breakdown of Where 599 Officers Who Voluntarily Separated 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
316 - TSA
Source: GAO analysis of turnover data provided by the 13 police forces.
25% 9%
5% 3%
2% 3%
148 - Other federal law enforcement, excluding TSA 52 - Unknown
31 - State or local law enforcement 20 - Other
12 - Other non- law enforcement 20 - Other federal non- law
enforcement, excluding TSA
53%
Page 21 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police 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. 19 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. 20 For
additional information on human capital flexibilities at the 13 police
forces, see appendix III.
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
19 U. S. General Accounting Office, Human Capital: Effective Use of
Flexibilities Can Assist Agencies in Managing Their Workforces, GAO- 03- 2
(Washington, D. C.: Dec. 2002). 20 U. S. General Accounting Office, Human
Capital: OPM Can Better Assist Agencies in Using Personnel Flexibilities,
GAO- 03- 428 (Washington, D. C.: May 2003). Most Forces
Experienced Recruitment Difficulties
Page 22 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police reasons, such as limited
funding or that the flexibilities themselves were not available to the
forces during the fiscal year 2002 recruiting cycle. 21 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;
and 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. 22 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.
21 All executive branch agencies have the authority to use human capital
flexibilities, such as recruitment bonuses and student loan repayments.
However, agencies may choose not to offer them.
22 Police forces that are not covered by federal law enforcement
retirement benefits do not have a mandatory retirement age.
Page 23 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police Table 6: Extent to Which
Police Forces Reported Experiencing Recruitment Difficulties in the
Washington MSA Uniformed police force Very great extent Great extent
Moderate extent Little or some extent No extent
Library of Congress Supreme Court U. S. Capitol Pentagon Force Protection
Agency Secret Service Park Police Bureau of Engraving and Printing U. S.
Mint Police Government Printing Office Federal Bureau of Investigation U.
S. Postal Service Federal Protective Service National Institutes of Health
Total 1 3 4 1 4
Source: GAO analysis of data provided 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.
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 Conclusions
Page 24 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police various human capital
flexibilities, might also help to address recruitment and retention issues
experienced by many of the police forces.
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
Agency Comments
Page 25 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police 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
Page 26 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police 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.
Richard M. Stana Director, Homeland Security and Justice Issues
Appendix I: Counties and Cities Included in the Washington Metropolitan
Statistical Area Page 27 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police Washington,
D. C. Maryland counties
Calvert County Charles County Frederick County Montgomery County Prince
George*s County
Virginia counties and cities Counties
Arlington County Clarke County Culpeper County Fairfax County Fauquier
County King George County Loudoun County Prince William County
Spotsylvania County Stafford County Warren County
Cities
Alexandria city Fairfax city Falls Church city Fredericksburg city
Manassas city Manassas Park city
West Virginia counties Berkeley County Jefferson County Appendix I:
Counties and Cities Included in
the Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area
Appendix II: Selected Turnover Data for the 13 Police Forces Page 28 GAO-
03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police 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 7:
Number of Separations and Turnover Rates of Uniformed Police Officers in
the Washington MSA for Fiscal Years
1997 through 2002
a U. S. Mint Police reported that it used mainly contract police officers
during fiscal years 1997 through 1999. b Turnover rate cannot be
calculated due to incomplete data.
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. Appendix II: Selected Turnover Data for the
13 Police Forces
7
Separations FY 1997
Source: GAO analysis of separations data provided by the 13 forces.
Library of Congress
Separations Separations
Separations Separations
Separations FY 1998 FY 1999 FY 2000 FY 2001 FY 2002
Turnover rate( in percent)
Turnover rate( in percent)
Turnover rate( in percent)
Turnover rate( in percent)
Turnover rate( in percent)
Turnover rate( in percent) Supreme Court U. S. Capitol Pentagon Force
Protection Agency Secret Service Park Police
Government Printing Office U. S. Mint
Bureau of Engraving and Printing Federal Bureau of Investigation National
Institutes of Health Percentage change from prior year
Total
13 4 84 23 73
31 11
a 5 1 4 U. S. Postal Service Federal Protective Service 23
19
291
12 5 16 11
7 6 9
a 10
1 45
b b
4 4 76 29 122
30 18
a 7 10 11 14
5
330
13% 4
5 7 12 11
6 14
a 13
6 9
b 12
3 5 73 52 108
44 10
5 14 13 19
a 10
356
8% 3
6 7 21 11
9 8
a 18
3 11
6 45
22 6 110
42 150
33 15 24
4 6 11 38
9
470
32% 18
7 9 16 15
7 11
7 7 3 8 20 19
26 10 88 31
12 5 7 9 12 21 13 31
110 19
10 7 12 10
7 8 9 13
5 10 12 25
375
-20% 14
17 160
33 277
55 36 22
8 32 16 29 30
729
94% 11
16 13 13 25 13 27 41 16 17 14 19 58
Appendix II: Selected Turnover Data for the 13 Police Forces Page 29 GAO-
03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police Table 8: Fiscal Year 2002 Voluntary
Separations by Years of Experience on a Police Force for 13 Police Forces
in the
Washington MSA Less than
2 yrs. 2 yrs. to
less than 5 yrs.
5 yrs. to less than
10 yrs. 10 yrs. to
less than 15 yrs.
15 yrs. to less than
20 yrs. 20 yrs. to
less than 25 yrs. 25 yrs. or
greater Total separations
Library of Congress 4 4 1 0 0 0 0 9
Supreme Court 2 8 1 0 3 0 0 14
U. S. Capitol 59 50 23 8 2 1 0 143
Pentagon Force Protection Agency 12 10 1 2 0 0 0 25
Secret Service 88 42 34 67 3 0 0 234
Park Police 3 11 9 12 1 0 0 36
Bureau of Engraving and Printing 14 12 5 0 1 0 0 32
U. S. Mint 6 12 1 2 0 0 0 21
Government Printing Office 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2
Federal Bureau of Investigation 9 9 8 4 0 0 0 30
U. S. Postal Service 0 5 1 1 0 0 0 7
Federal Protective Service 2 10 9 0 0 0 0 21
National Institutes of Health 10 8 4 0 2 1 0 25 Total 210 181 97 96 13 2 0
599
Source: GAO analysis of separations data provided by the 13 police forces.
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.
Appendix II: Selected Turnover Data for the 13 Police Forces Page 30 GAO-
03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police Figure 5: Voluntary Separations,
Excluding Retirements and Disability, by Years of
Service on a Force in Fiscal Year 2002
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.
15 - 15 years or greater
96 - 10 to less than15 years
97 - 5 to less than10 years
181 - 2 to less than 5 years
210 - Less that 2 years
35% 16%
16% 3%
30%
Source: GAO analysis of separations data provided by the 13 police forces.
Appendix II: Selected Turnover Data for the 13 Police Forces Page 31 GAO-
03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police Table 9: Separations to TSA in Fiscal
Year 2002 by Police Force and Years of Service on a Force for 13 Police
Forces in the
Washington MSA Less than
2 yrs. 2 yrs. to
less than 5 yrs.
5 yrs. to less than
10 yrs. 10 yrs. to
less than 15 yrs.
15 yrs. to less than
20 yrs. 20 yrs. to
less than 25 yrs.
25 yrs. or greater Total
separations
Library of Congress 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 3
Supreme Court 1 1 1 0 2 0 0 5
U. S. Capitol 13 27 17 6 2 1 0 66
Pentagon Force Protection Agency 3 6 0 1 0 0 0 10
Secret Service 39 21 22 63 3 0 0 148
Park Police 0 8 5 8 1 0 0 22
Bureau of Engraving and Printing 2 5 4 0 1 0 0 12
U. S. Mint 4 11 1 2 0 0 0 18
Government Printing Office 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Federal Bureau of Investigation 5 6 4 1 0 0 0 16
U. S. Postal Service 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Federal Protective Service 2 3 2 0 0 0 0 7
National Institutes of Health 4 2 3 0 0 0 0 9 Total 75 91 59 81 9 1 0 316
Source: GAO analysis of separations data provided by the 13 police 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).
Appendix II: Selected Turnover Data for the 13 Police Forces Page 32 GAO-
03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police Table 10: Separations to Other Federal
Law Enforcement Positions, Excluding TSA, in Fiscal Year 2002 by Years of
Service on a Force for 13 Police Forces in the Washington MSA Less than
2 yrs. 2 yrs. to
less than 5 yrs.
5 yrs. to less than
10 yrs. 10 yrs. to
less than 15 yrs.
15 yrs. to less than
20 yrs. 20 yrs. to
less than 25 yrs.
25 yrs. or greater Total
separations
Library of Congress 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 4
Supreme Court 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 5
U. S. Capitol 18 13 4 1 0 0 0 36
Pentagon Force Protection Agency 5 4 1 0 0 0 0 10
Secret Service 16 17 9 3 0 0 0 45
Park Police 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 6
Bureau of Engraving and Printing 7 5 0 0 0 0 0 12
U. S. Mint 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 3
Government Printing Office 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
Federal Bureau of Investigation 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
U. S. Postal Service 0 5 1 1 0 0 0 7
Federal Protective Service 0 5 5 0 0 0 0 10
National Institutes of Health 3 5 0 0 0 0 0 8 Total 53 64 23 7 1 0 0 148
Source: GAO analysis of separations data provided by the 13 police forces.
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.
Appendix II: Selected Turnover Data for the 13 Police Forces Page 33 GAO-
03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police Table 11: Extent to Which Police Forces
Reported Experiencing Retention Difficulties in the Washington MSA
Uniformed police force Very great extent Great extent Moderate extent
Little or some extent No extent
Library of Congress Supreme Court U. S. Capitol Pentagon Force Protection
Agency Secret Service Park Police Bureau of Engraving and Printing U. S.
Mint Government Printing Office Federal Bureau of Investigation U. S.
Postal Service Federal Protective Service National Institutes of Health
Total 4 4 2 1 2
Source: GAO analysis of data provided by the 13 police forces.
Police forces reporting difficulties indicated a number of commonalities
in terms of why officers had left the forces. Among the reasons given were
1 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. 1 The forces determined why officers
were leaving primarily through exit interviews and
other paperwork associated with resignations, as well as through anecdotal
information.
Appendix II: Selected Turnover Data for the 13 Police Forces Page 34 GAO-
03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police 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.
Appendix III: Use of Human Capital Flexibilities
Page 35 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police 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. Appendix III: Use of
Human Capital
Flexibilities
Appendix III: Use of Human Capital Flexibilities
Page 36 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police Table 12: Reported
Availability and Use of Human Capital Flexibilities at 13 Police Forces in
the Washington MSA Bureau of
Engraving and Printing
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Protective Service
Government Printing Office Library of
Congress
Monetary incentives Relocation bonuses N Y Y N N
Number used in fiscal year 2002 N/ A 0 0 N/ A N/ A
Recruitment bonuses N Y Y N N
Number used in fiscal year 2002 N/ A 0 0 N/ A N/ A
Retention allowances N Y Y N N
Number used in fiscal year 2002 N/ A 0 120 N/ A N/ A Average amount in
fiscal year 2002 N/ A N/ A $3,496 N/ A N/ A
Increase in pay upon completion of basic training N N N Y Y
Average amount in fiscal year 2002 N/ A N/ A N/ A $1,702 $1,381
Student loan repayment N Y Y N N
Number of officers that received repayments N/ A 0 0 N/ A N/ A Incentive
awards and recognition Performance- based cash awards N Y Y N Y
Number of awards in fiscal year 2002 N/ A 100 12 N/ A 8 Average amount in
fiscal year 2002 N/ A $2,500 $388 N/ A $656
Quality step increases Y Y Y N N
Number of increases in fiscal year 2002 1 9 1 N/ A N/ A Average amount in
fiscal year 2002 $1,087 $1,000 $1,148 N/ A N/ A
Honorary and informal recognition awards Y N Y Y N
Number of awards in fiscal year 2002 11 N/ A a 0 N/ A
Time- off awards Y Y N N N
Number of awards in fiscal year 2002 1 3 N/ A N/ A N/ A Average amount, in
hours, in fiscal year 2002 8 8 N/ A N/ A N/ A
Performance development and training Tuition assistance N Y Y N N
Are all officers eligible? N/ A Y Y N/ A N/ A Number of officers who
received this assistance in fiscal year 2002 N/ A 0 8 N/ A N/ A Average
amount in fiscal year 2002 N/ A 0 a N/ A N/ A
External training reimbursement N Y Y Y N
Are all officers eligible? N/ A Y Y N N/ A Number of officers who received
reimbursement in fiscal year 2002 N/ A 10 28 0 N/ A Average amount in
fiscal year 2002 N/ A $750 a 0 N/ A
Appendix III: Use of Human Capital Flexibilities
Page 37 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police National Institutes of
Health Pentagon Force
Protection Agency Secret Service Supreme Court U. S. Capitol U. S. Mint U.
S. Park
Police U. S. Postal Service
N Y N N N Y N N N/ A 0 N/ A N/ A N/ A 0 N/ A N/ A N Y N N N N N N N/ A 0
N/ A N/ A N/ A N/ A N/ A N/ A Y Y N N N N N N 51 253 N/ A N/ A N/ A N/ A
N/ A N/ A $4,225 $1,013 N/ A N/ A N/ A N/ A N/ A N/ A N N N Y Y N Y N N/ A
N/ A N/ A $1,381 $1,381 N/ A $788 N/ A N N N N N N N N N/ A N/ A N/ A N/ A
N/ A N/ A N/ A N/ A
Y Y Y Y N Y Y Y 48 196 1,161 20 N/ A 0 392 100 $2,000 $1,364 $438 $555 N/
A 0 $827 $109 Y Y Y Y N Y N Y 1 44 0 1 N/ A 2 N/ A 0 $3,000 $2,406 0
$2,152 N/ A $4,445 N/ A 0 Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y 38 3 5 20 0 1 70 54 Y Y Y N N Y
Y N 10 0 0 N/ A N/ A 4 717 N/ A 8 0 0 N/ A N/ A 40 10 N/ A
Y Y Y Y N Y N Y Y Y Y Y N/ A N N/ A Y 0 10 11 3 N/ A 20 N/ A 0
0 $302 $1,536 $2,304 N/ A $1,508 N/ A 0 N Y Y Y N N N Y N/ A Y Y Y N/ A N/
A N/ A Y N/ A 185 0 21 N/ A N/ A N/ A 0
N/ A $1,155 N/ A $1,226 N/ A N/ A N/ A 0
Appendix III: Use of Human Capital Flexibilities
Page 38 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police Bureau of Engraving
and Printing Federal
Bureau of Investigation
Federal Protective Service
Government Printing Office Library of
Congress
Work- life policies and programs Gym/ health program Y Y Y N N
Are all officers eligible? Y Y Y N/ A N/ A
Child care program N Y Y N Y
Are all officers eligible? N/ A Y Y N/ A Y
Alternative work schedule N N N N N
Are all officers eligible? N/ A N/ A N/ A N/ A N/ A
Transportation subsidies Y Y Y Y Y
Are all offices eligible? Y Y Y Y Y
Take home vehicle N N Y N N
Number of officers with take home vehicles in fiscal year 2002 N/ A N/ A
122 N/ A N/ A Other human capital flexibilities Waiver of qualification
requirements N Y Y N N
Number of waivers in fiscal year 2002 N/ A 11 0 N/ A N/ A
Specialized unit opportunities Y Y Y N N
Are all officers eligible? Y Y Y N/ A N/ A
Referral bonuses N Y N N N Number used in fiscal year 2002 N/ A 0 N/ A N/
A N/ A Source: GAO analysis of data provided by the 13 police forces.
a The Federal Protective Service reported that it was unable to produce
reliable data for this item.
Appendix III: Use of Human Capital Flexibilities
Page 39 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police National Institutes of
Health Pentagon Force
Protection Agency Secret Service Supreme Court U. S. Capitol U. S. Mint U.
S. Park
Police U. S. Postal Service
N Y Y Y Y Y N Y N/ A Y Y Y Y Y N/ A Y N N N Y N Y N N N/ A N/ A N/ A Y N/
A Y N/ A N/ A Y N Y N N Y Y N N N/ A Y N/ A N/ A Y Y N/ A Y Y Y Y Y Y N N
N Y Y Y Y Y N/ A N/ A N N Y Y Y N Y N N/ A N/ A 84 2 34 N/ A 133 N/ A
N N N N N N Y Y N/ A N/ A N/ A N/ A N/ A N/ A 3 0 Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Y Y Y Y N N N N N N N N N/ A N/ A N/ A N/ A N/ A N/ A N/ A N/ A
Appendix IV: Recruiting Strategies and New Hire Selection Process
Page 40 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police Table 13 provides
information on the recruiting strategies used as reported by the 13 police
forces during fiscal year 2002. A number of strategies were employed,
including placement of announcements in various media
sources. Also, in addition to agency and OPM Web sites, a number of
agencies reported using various independent Web sites related to
employment searches. Appendix IV: Recruiting Strategies and New
Hire Selection Process
Appendix IV: Recruiting Strategies and New Hire Selection Process Page 41
GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police
Appendix IV: Recruiting Strategies and New Hire Selection Process
Page 42 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police Table 13: Use of Recruiting
Strategies as Reported by the 13 Police Forces in the Washington MSA
Bureau of
Engraving and Printing Federal Bureau
of Investigation Federal
Protective Service Government
Printing Office Library of Congress
National Institutes of Health
Colleges/ universities Local Nationwide Job Fairs Local Nationwide
Internet Agency Web site OPM Web site Other Web site( s) Newspaper Radio
Television Military Unemployment offices Libraries Mailings Other Source:
GAO analysis of data provided by the 13 police forces.
Appendix IV: Recruiting Strategies and New Hire Selection Process
Page 43 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police Pentagon Force Protection
Agency Secret Service Supreme Court U. S. Capitol U. S. Mint U. S. Park
Police U. S. Postal Service
Table 14 shows that qualification requirements and the selection process
used were similar across the agencies. The U. S. Postal Service Police was
the only force that did not require a high school diploma or prior law
enforcement experience. Additionally, 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 secret clearance or physical fitness
evaluation.
Appendix IV: Recruiting Strategies and New Hire Selection Process
Page 44 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police Table 14: Minimum
Qualification Requirements and Selection Process Reported by 13 Police
Forces in the Washington MSA Bureau of Engraving
and Printing Federal
Bureau of Investigation
Federal Protective Service
Government Printing Office Library of
Congress National
Institutes of Health Minimum qualification requirements High school
diploma/ equivalent 2- year college degree in any major 4- year college
degree in criminal justice
related major 1- year law enforcement experience 2- year college degree in
any major OR 1- year of law enforcement experience 4- year college degree
in any major OR 1 year of law enforcement experience 4- year college
degree in a criminal justice related major OR 1 year of law enforcement
experience
Selection process Application Written examinations( s) Interview Medical
examination Physical fitness evaluation Psychological evaluation
Background investigation Polygraph test Secret clearance Top secret
clearance Drug test Source: GAO analysis of data provided by the 13 police
forces.
Appendix IV: Recruiting Strategies and New Hire Selection Process
Page 45 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police Pentagon Force Protection
Agency Secret Service Supreme
Court U. S. Capitol U. S.
Mint U. S. Park Police U. S. Postal
Service
Appendix V: Comments from the Department of the Interior
Page 46 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police Appendix V: Comments from
the Department of the Interior
Appendix VI: Comments from the National Institutes of Health
Page 47 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police Appendix VI: Comments from
the National Institutes of Health
Appendix VI: Comments from the National Institutes of Health Page 48 GAO-
03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police
Appendix VI: Comments from the National Institutes of Health Page 49 GAO-
03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police
Appendix VI: Comments from the National Institutes of Health Page 50 GAO-
03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police
Appendix VII: Comments from the Office of Personnel Management Page 51
GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police Appendix VII: Comments from the
Office of Personnel Management
Appendix VII: Comments from the Office of Personnel Management Page 52
GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police
Appendix VIII: Comments from the United States Secret Service Page 53 GAO-
03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police Appendix VIII: Comments from the United
States Secret Service
Appendix VIII: Comments from the United States Secret Service Page 54 GAO-
03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police
Appendix VIII: Comments from the United States Secret Service Page 55 GAO-
03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police
Appendix VIII: Comments from the United States Secret Service Page 56 GAO-
03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police
Appendix VIII: Comments from the United States Secret Service Page 57 GAO-
03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police
Appendix IX: Comments from the Supreme Court of the United States
Page 58 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police Appendix IX: Comments from
the Supreme Court of the United States
Appendix X: GAO Contacts and Acknowledgments
Page 59 GAO- 03- 658 Federal Uniformed Police Richard M. Stana (202) 512-
8777 Weldon McPhail (202) 512- 8644 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. Appendix X: GAO Contacts
and
Acknowledgments GAO Contacts Staff Acknowledgments
(440126)
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