According to the FBI, the launch of  this initiative also increased the number of state and local security  clearance applications. The  security clearance process for state and local officials involves six broad  steps that consist of the (1) FBI field office officials’ determining the  applicant’s need to know classified national security information and level  of clearance required, (2) applicant’s submission of application materials  to an FBI field office, (3) applicant fingerprinting and interview conducted  by FBI field office officials, (4) FBI field officials’ routing of application  materials to FBI headquarters and the FBI investigators’ completion of a  background investigation, (5) FBI headquarters’ adjudication of clearance  applications based on federal government adjudication standards, and   (6) notification of an adjudication. General FBI Criteria for Granting Security Clearances Apply Equally to FBI Employees and State and Local Officials

The FBI’s policies for granting access to classified information requires  state and local officials to undergo the same background investigation and  adjudication procedures as do individuals who have an employment  relationship with the FBI or other federal government agencies and  require access to classified national security information. The FBI Processed the Majority of Top Secret Security Clearances within its Time Frame Goals; Secret Security Clearances Generally Missed the Time Frame Goals, but Improvements Have Been Made

The FBI’s goal for processing top secret security clearance applications is  6 to 9 months, and its goal for processing secret security clearance  applications is 45 to 60 days, though actual completion times can vary  from case to case. The FBI often assigns greater priority to processing applications for state  and local JTTF members, who are required to have top secret clearances. Consequently, as figure 5 shows, about 92 percent of the 835 applications  for top secret security clearances granted were processed within the FBI’s  time frame goal of 6 to 9 months since September 11. The average number of days for processing a secret  security clearance application was about 90 in the last quarter of 2001. FBI guidance to  state and local officials states that the processing time for each application  will vary depending on its complexity. The FBI and State and Local Officials Have Identified Process Impediments and the FBI Has Taken Steps to Enhance the Security Clearance Process and Information Sharing

The FBI has undertaken various steps to enhance its process for granting  security clearances to state and local officials and to facilitate information  sharing with state and local law enforcement agencies. State and Local Officials and the FBI Have Consulted to Identify Ways to Improve the Security Clearance and Information Sharing Processes

In response to an increased interest in information sharing between the  FBI and state and local law enforcement agencies following the terrorist  attacks of September 11, high-level FBI officials met with state and local  law enforcement leaders to discuss ways to prevent or respond to terrorist  attacks. In addition to the FBI’s direct consultation with state and local officials,  after September 11, some state and local law enforcement organizations  expressed their members’ concerns regarding information sharing with the  FBI and the FBI’s security clearance application process. FBI Outreach to State and Local Officials Helped Clarify Security Clearance Requirements and Time Frames

With the assistance of the newly created OLEC, in November 2002, the FBI  distributed an informational brochure to state and local law enforcement  agencies to help improve these officials’ understanding of the FBI’s  security clearance requirements and process. The FBI Utilizes Bulletins and Information Networks to Share Information with State and Local Officials

In addition to the JTTFs and the LEO initiative, which was created to  provide classified information to state and local officials, the FBI utilizes  several means of disseminating terrorism-related information to agencies  and individuals outside the FBI, including state and local officials. We are providing copies of this report to the Ranking Minority Member of  the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the  Courts. We gathered additional information from  interviews with officials from the FBI’s Security Division Personnel  Security Section, which oversees the unit responsible for granting security  clearances to state and local officials. To determine the extent to which the FBI is meeting its timeliness goals  for processing security clearances for state and local officials, we analyzed  data from the FBI Security Division’s state and local law enforcement  security clearance databases collected between September 2001 and  December 2003. To describe the efforts undertaken by the FBI to enhance its state and  local law enforcement security clearance and information-sharing  processes, we reviewed a variety of reports and studies, including  literature published by state and local law enforcement organizations.
Why GAO Did This Study

The free flow of information among federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies could prove vital to fighting the war on terrorism. State and local law enforcement officials are key stakeholders in the United States' efforts to combat terrorism, and as such, they may require access to classified national security information to help prevent or respond to terrorist attacks. In order to gain access to such information, state and local law enforcement officials generally need federal security clearances. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) grants security clearances and shares classified information with state and local law enforcement officials. Immediately following September 11, 2001, some state and local law enforcement officials expressed frustration with the complexity of the process for obtaining security clearances. Others expressed frustration with the length of time it took to obtain a security clearance. These frustrations exacerbated the general concern among law enforcement stakeholders that the lack of security clearances could impede the flow of critical information from the FBI to the state and local level, from the state and local level to the FBI, and laterally from one state or local agency to another. In turn, this potential lack of access to critical terrorism-related information might place local law enforcement officials at a disadvantage in their efforts to respond to or combat a terrorist threat. The Ranking Minority Member, Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts, Senate Committee on the Judiciary asked us to examine several issues regarding the FBI's process for granting security clearances to state and local law enforcement officials. This report provides information on: (1) the FBI's process for granting security clearances to state and local law enforcement officials, (2) the extent to which the FBI has met its time frame goals for processing security clearance applications for state and local law enforcement officials and factors that could affect the timely processing of security clearance applications, and (3) efforts undertaken by the FBI to enhance its security clearance and information-sharing processes with state and local law enforcement officials.

What GAO Found

The FBI's process for granting access to classified information requires state and local law enforcement officials to undergo the same background investigation and adjudication procedures as do individuals who have an employment relationship with the federal government and require access to classified national security information. The FBI's goal is to complete the processing for secret security clearances within 45 to 60 days and top secret security clearances within 6 to 9 months, beginning with the FBI headquarters' receipt of the application from the FBI field office. Since September 11, about 92 percent of applications for top secret security clearances were processed within the FBI's time frame goals. During this same period, about 26 percent of secret security clearance applications were processed within the FBI's time frame goals, although substantial improvements have been made in the most recent quarters for which we have data. The FBI was more successful with processing top secret security clearances within its stated time frame goals than secret security clearances, in part because the FBI often assigns greater priority to processing applications for state and local Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) members, who are required to have top secret clearances. For either secret or top secret security clearance applications, processing timeframes can vary depending on the complexity of individual cases. The FBI has taken a number of steps to enhance its process for granting security clearances to, and sharing information with, state and local law enforcement officials. One of the impediments highlighted was the state and local officials' and the FBI field office staff's lack of a clear understanding of the FBI's security clearance granting process. In response to this impediment, the FBI headquarters widely distributed step-by- step guidance to state and local law enforcement officials and reeducated the FBI field staff on the FBI security clearance process and goals. In addition, the FBI added staff to its headquarters unit responsible for adjudicating state and local security clearance applications and created databases to track state and local security clearance applications. Efforts undertaken by the FBI to enhance information sharing with state and local officials include increasing the number of JTTFs from 35 to 84 and increasing state and local law enforcement officials' participation on these forces. Serving on JTTFs provides state and local law enforcement officials the opportunity to interact with the FBI on a daily basis. The FBI also circulates declassified intelligence through a weekly bulletin and provides threat information to state and local law enforcement officials via various database networks.