Federal Security Staffs Cut in 2008 Budget

Plans are underway as part of a Bush administration proposal to cut the Federal Protective Service by 250 officers nationwide in 2008. But critics say the cuts could put the country at risk.

In an article on Newsday.com, Carol Eisenberg says the plans are the result of the service’s “continuing budget shortfalls and the administration’s shift to private security contractors. The Federal Protective Service currently employs about 1,150 officers nationwide, and also contracts with about 15,000 private guards.”

However, Eisenberg says both lawmakers and the union representing the federal officers are concerned that private contract guards are often ill-prepared and lack the necessary certifications to be truly effective at protecting the homeland.

“As federal employees are replaced with contract security guards, there are indications that the quality of protection is falling,” New York Senator Charles Schumer wrote in a letter Friday to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. “Moreover, contract guards must rely on state and local law enforcement to perform functions they are not authorized to handle.”

Eisenberg says Schumer also demanded that no additional staffing cuts be made in New York because of the high risk of terrorism.

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