	MegaCenters Provide Alarm and Radio Monitoring and Dispatch from Four Locations

FPS MegaCenters provide federal agencies with three primary security  services—alarm monitoring, radio monitoring, and dispatch—through four  locations using a variety of IT systems. The MegaCenters are located in Battle Creek, Denver, Philadelphia, and  Suitland. MegaCenter managers assess MegaCenter  operations through a variety of means, including reviewing data about  volume and timeliness of operations, listening to and evaluating a sample  of calls between operators and FPS police officers and contract guards,  and receiving informal feedback about customer satisfaction. Conclusions

FPS MegaCenters play a key role in protecting federal facilities, those who  enter these facilities, and the FPS police officers and contract guards  whose calls the MegaCenters respond to and monitor. Recommendations for Executive Action

We recommend that the Secretary of Homeland Security direct the Director  of the Federal Protective Service to take the following three actions:  establish MegaCenter performance measures that meet the attributes of  successful performance measures we have identified;   develop a performance measure for the MegaCenters that is directly  linked to the FPS-wide response time measure and covers the scope of  the MegaCenters’ operations, from alarm to dispatch; and  routinely assess the extent to which the MegaCenters meet established  performance measures. The  Department of the Interior did not provide comments on this report. (2) Determine how FPS assesses and measures the performance of  MegaCenter operations and how FPS links MegaCenter performance measures to FPS-wide performance measures. Remote monitoring of building alarm systems, radio monitoring, and dispatching of FPS police officers and contract guards are the primary services FPS MegaCenters provide. These and other services are provided around the clock from four locations across the  country. In addition, the MegaCenters have a fiscal year 2006 budget of $23.5 million  and use a variety of information technology (IT) systems and other equipment to provide  their services. FPS managers have  also developed performance measures for assessing MegaCenter operations. Although  these MegaCenter measures reflect some attributes of successful performance measures,  they also contain some weaknesses because they are not always clearly stated or measurable, and do not address governmentwide priorities of efficiency, cost of service,  and outcome. The nine selected organizations offer some of the MegaCenters’ primary services, and  they deliver and assess the services they offer in a generally similar manner to the  MegaCenters. For example, like the MegaCenters, many of these organizations have  centralized their control center operations, have backup capability, allocate workload  among control centers based on geographic location, and use regular call reviews as well  as volume and time measures to assess the quality of the services they provide. One difference between the  MegaCenters and the selected organizations is that three of these organizations use a  CAD system, which the MegaCenters do not have.
Why GAO Did This Study

The Department of Homeland Security's Federal Protective Service (FPS) through its control centers (MegaCenters) helps provide for the security and protection of federally owned and leased facilities. This report (1) identifies the services MegaCenters provide, (2) determines how FPS assesses MegaCenter performance and whether FPS links MegaCenter performance measures to FPS-wide measures, and (3) examines how MegaCenters and selected organizations compare in the services they provide. To address these issues, GAO reviewed FPS's performance measures and past MegaCenter assessments, assessed the MegaCenters' performance measures, and interviewed officials and collected relevant information at FPS, the four MegaCenters, and nine selected security organizations.

What GAO Found

FPS MegaCenters provide three primary security services--alarm monitoring, radio monitoring, and dispatching of FPS police officers and contract guards. These and other services are provided around the clock from four locations--Battle Creek, Michigan; Denver, Colorado; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Suitland, Maryland. With a fiscal year 2006 budget of $23.5 million, the MegaCenters monitor alarms at over 8,300 federal facilities, covering almost 381 million square feet, and have available for dispatch over 7,800 FPS police officers and contract guards. FPS MegaCenter managers assess MegaCenter operations through a variety of means, including reviewing data about volume and timeliness of operations, listening to and evaluating a sample of calls between operators and FPS police officers and contract guards, and receiving informal feedback about customer satisfaction. FPS managers have also developed performance measures for assessing MegaCenter operations. However, these measures are of limited use because they are not always clearly stated or measurable and do not address governmentwide priorities of efficiency, cost of service, and outcome--which are among the attributes that GAO has identified for successful performance measures. In addition, the MegaCenters do not measure a key activity--the time from alarm to officer dispatch--that would link MegaCenter performance to an FPS-wide performance measure. Without this measure, FPS is limited in its ability to evaluate the MegaCenters' contribution to the FPS-wide measure of response time. Nine selected security organizations--including federal and local police and private entities--offer some of the MegaCenters' services as well as provide and assess these services in a manner that is generally similar to the MegaCenters. Like the MegaCenters, many of the selected organizations have centralized their operations. They also use regular call reviews and volume and time measures to assess the quality of the services they provide. A major difference between the MegaCenters and some selected organizations is the use of a computer-aided dispatch system, which enables these organizations to automate many functions.