GAO Finds Security Lapses At Federal Buildings

It cost $150 and took about four minutes for government investigators, working in a sting operation, to make small bombs from materials they carried into high-security federal buildings that house major agencies with national security or law enforcement responsibilities. The recent sting by the Government Accountability Office exposed lax security procedures by the Federal Protective Service, the agency tasked with guarding more than 1 million workers at 9,000 federal buildings nationwide. Mark L. Goldstein, who led the investigation, told lawmakers that his team carried bombmaking materials into 10 high-security federal buildings in the past year. The materials could be purchased in stores or online and cost roughly $150. Once inside, investigators assembled bombs in restrooms and then walked around with them, undetected. In only one instance did a security guard question an investigator carrying suspicious materials.