[Infowarrior] - DHS loses 289 of its guns

[Richard Forno]

Report finds DHS does poor job securing its own firearms
By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 18, 2010; 3:09 PM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/18/AR2010021802621_pf.html
Agents and officers of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security  
reported that 289 of their handguns, shotguns or automatic rifles had  
been lost or stolen between 2005 and 2008, with weapons left in places  
ranging from fast-food restaurant restrooms to bowling alleys to  
clothing stores, the agency's inspector general said in a report  
released Thursday.

Most of the losses could have been prevented, DHS Inspector General  
Richard L. Skinner reported. In one case, his office stated, a border  
officer left a weapon in his idling vehicle at a convenience store.  
Both the weapon and the vehicle were stolen. In another case, a  
shotgun and semiautomatic rifle were stolen from an officer's closet  
at home. Other agents left firearms in truck beds or on vehicle  
bumpers, where weapons fell off as they drove away.

"The Department of Homeland Security, through its components, did not  
adequately safeguard and control its firearms," Skinner concluded in a  
23-page report dated Jan. 25.

"Although some reported losses were beyond the officers' control, most  
losses occurred because officers did not properly secure firearms,"  
the inspector general concluded. The report, first reported Thursday  
by USA Today, recommended that DHS set tighter department-wide rules  
for storing, transferring and taking inventory of weapons, and for  
reporting when they are lost.

While the report was embarrassing for DHS, other unidentified federal  
law enforcement agencies fared worse. Skinner said the Justice  
Department and the Government Accountability Office, Congress's audit  
arm, found similar problems among 18 agencies assessed between 2003  
and 2007.

Elaine C. Duke, then-DHS undersecretary for management, committed in a  
Dec. 11 letter to Skinner's assistant to stronger oversight and  
department-wide policies.

"Components that were audited took immediate and substantive actions  
to correct noted deficiencies and to improve the overall management of  
their firearms," Duke said. She said a DHS management plan and policy  
were expected within months.

Overall, DHS agencies reported having more than 188,548 firearms on  
hand as of July, not counting the Transportation Security  
Administration, whose inventory is secret for security reasons. Two  
DHS components -- Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and  
Customs Enforcement -- reported 243 lost weapons, or 84 percent of the  
total. TSA, the Secret Service and the Coast Guard lost 46.

About one in four losses was beyond officers' control, with weapons  
lost for example when Hurricane Katrina made landfall, in assaults  
against officers or taken from lockboxes or safes.

Listing examples of poor practices, auditors found CBP and ICE  
firearms instructors storing weapons in bags visible from the windows  
of their vehicles. Other officers were observed putting them in glove  
compartments, under seats and in trunks.

Agencies are also sloppy about tracking weapons, the report said. CBP  
and ICE staff took two to four months on average to report lost  
weapons to headquarters.

According to ICE and CBP, 65 lost firearms were recovered, but 15 were  
taken by local law enforcement from felons, gang members, criminals,  
drug users and teenagers.