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Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration Highlights of
Report Number: 2012-IE-R002 to the
Internal Revenue Service Deputy Commissioner for Operations Support. WHY TIGTA DID THIS STUDY This project was initiated to determine
whether the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) completes steps to provide a
reasonable level of assurance that its contract security guard workforce is
suitable for employment at IRS facilities and whether responsible IRS
personnel are qualified to oversee the day-to-day operations of the security
guard contracts assigned to them. WHAT TIGTA RECOMMENDED TIGTA recommended that the Director,
Physical Security and Emergency Preparedness, develop, validate, and maintain
a comprehensive listing of contract security guards; and require Office of
Personnel Management background investigations for all contract security
guards regardless of the type of service provided. TIGTA further recommended that the Director
develop procedures that require Contracting Officer’s Technical
Representatives to obtain and maintain records to document that contractors
without staff-like access are properly escorted while in IRS facilities;
follow up on the results of requests for new investigations for contractor
employees; and remove contractors from duty who fail to provide information
required for the new investigations. Lastly,
TIGTA recommended that the Director periodically issue memoranda to remind
all Contracting Officer’s Technical Representatives to adhere to internal
procedures related to managing contract security guards. IRS
management agreed with our recommendations, and initiated or plans to
initiate processes designed to improve oversight and provide assurance that
security guards are suitable for employment in IRS facilities. |
Issued
on January 10, 2012 INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE CONTRACT SECURITY GUARD
WORKFORCE INSPECTION WHAT
TIGTA FOUND TIGTA found that
the IRS generally has controls in place to ensure security guards are
suitable for employment in IRS facilities and that most Contracting Officer’s
Technical Representatives assigned to the guard contracts were properly
appointed and certified. While no systemic
issues regarding the on-site administration of contract security guards
exist, the lack of controls in some areas prevented the IRS from accurately
and timely identifying the population of security guards working under IRS
contracts. Additionally, Contracting
Officer’s Technical Representatives allowed several security guards to work
in some IRS facilities without escorts before receiving staff-like access
(the ability for contract employees to enter an IRS owned or controlled
facility without an IRS escort), or after re-investigations required to
maintain access to IRS facilities were overdue. Lastly, in one unique instance, guards hired
to escort IRS employees outside one Federal building were not subject to
normal screening procedures. READ
THE FULL REPORT To view the report,
including the scope, methodology, and full IRS response, go to: http://www.treas.gov/tigta/iereports/2012reports/2012ier002fr.html Email Address: TIGTACommunications@tigta.treas.gov Phone
Number: 202-622-6500 Web Site: http://www.tigta.gov |