Homeland Security Loses Over 1,000 Computers in One Fiscal Year
by Todd Shepherd, Independence Institute, February 24th, 2010 [here]
New documents reveal that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) continues to lose hundreds of computers per year. At least one DHS component agency maintains that the losses fall within accepted accounting standards.
In fiscal year 2008, inventories of lost, stolen, and damaged equipment show that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) combined to lose no fewer than 985 computers. Meanwhile, the lost, stolen and damaged report for ICE shows 13 vehicles classified as “lost” or “not found during physical inventory.”
CBP’s total inventory (immediately below) of lost stolen and damaged equipment tallies 1,975 pieces at a total valuation of $7.5 million. …
CBP insists that none of the lost computers contained any sensitive or classified data. …
“If CBP can lose more than 500 computers, and say categorically that there was no sensitive data on any of them, then I don’t know what CBP is using their computers for,” [President of the Independence Institute] Caldara added.
CBP’s inventory also shows 235 night vision scopes classified as lost. … Numerous vehicles were sold in which no documentation of the sale could be located. Three computer switchers worth $92,354 each were lost. An “international harvester vehicle truck” valued at $116,349 apparently could not be located during physical inventory.
Neither inventory includes any mention of any kind of munition, armaments, or ammunition. A recent report by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General showed that DHS and all component agencies lost 289 firearms from fiscal years 2006 to 2008. … [more]