Moreover, guards employed by some contractors were not always complying with post orders once they were deployed to federal facilities. FPS’s post orders describe a number of things that guards are prohibited from doing while on post. For example, guards are prohibited from sleeping, using government property such as computers, and test-firing a weapon unless at a range course. However, as we testified in July 2009, when FPS routinely inspects guard posts, it has found incidents at level IV facilities where guards were not complying with post orders, including the following:
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A guard was caught using government computers while he was supposed to be standing post, to further his private for-profit adult Web site.
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A guard attached a motion sensor to a pole at the entrance to a federal facility garage to alert him whenever a person was approaching his post. Another law enforcement agency discovered the device and reported it to FPS.
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A guard, during regular business hours, accidentally fired his firearm in a restroom while practicing drawing his weapon.
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A guard failed to recognize or did not properly X-ray a box containing semiautomatic handguns at the loading dock at one federal facility we visited. FPS became aware of the situation only because the handguns were delivered to FPS.
In each of these incidents, the guards were fired or disciplined. However, FPS continues to find instances where guards are not complying with post orders. For example, 2 days after the July 2009 hearing, another guard fired his firearm in a restroom in a level IV facility while practicing drawing his weapon.