WASHINGTON — Security training at some federal courthouses is so ineffective that it took almost eight years for some security officers to learn how to turn on X-ray machine software that would detect guns and explosives, a Justice Department audit of courthouse security operations said Friday.
In the meantime, fake bombs hidden in packages and at least one gun stashed in a lawyer’s bag went unnoticed at security checkpoints last year.
The security lapses and potential threats, the inspector general audit said, are largely due to a lack of training on basic equipment, including X-ray machines and metal detectors, and lax oversight of security programs by the U.S. Marshals Service, which oversees courthouse security.
“We believe that inadequate training on security screening equipment for Judicial Security Inspectors and CSOs (court security officers) poses a significant risk to the safety of court personnel and facilities,” the report said.
The audit said court security officers, many of whom are hired by government contractors, are routinely put on the job before finishing a three-day training course and then don’t get enough training on new or existing security equipment.
In 2002, the Marshals Service spent about $8 million on sophisticated explosives detectors, but many courthouse officers were never trained to use them, the audit said.
The machines were either misused or fell into disrepair, according to one Marshals Service employee who spoke to the auditors.
Some Marshals Service officials denied there was a lack of training and said the machines were “prone to failure, the software was difficult to use.”
The report also concluded that not all district security offices routinely report data about arrests and other security breaches, and it criticized the Marshals Service for not fully analyzing data that is submitted.
