DHS Promises Prompt Payment for Security Guards Keith Howard says the Homeland Security Department drove his company into bankruptcy because it did not pay bills on time. Howard’s Maryland firm, Area-Wide Electronic Solutions Inc., provided security guards for federal buildings in the Washington area. He said the company folded in 2003 when DHS owed him $1.2 million. He told WUSA-TV in Washington he is still trying to collect. Howard is not alone. Several guards working for another contractor walked off their jobs last month because they had not been paid. The contractor said it could not meet payroll because DHS was behind in its payments. Top DHS officials acknowledged serious problems with their payment system and promised action to fix it. At a July 17 news conference with D.C. congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, department officials announced several steps to ensure prompt payment of security guard contractors. Julie Myers, assistant secretary for DHS’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau, said the Federal Protective Service owes nearly $8 million in overdue payments to about 20 contractors. ICE is the parent of the Federal Protective Service. Del. Norton said the department has agreed to clear the backlog of unpaid invoices by August. In addition, a spokesman said ICE will centralize payment of security contractors, appoint an ombudsman to deal with problems and provide training for regional office personnel and contractors on how to manage invoices. Norton applauded ICE for “substantive reform in contracting operations.” “Today’s announcements concerning the vitality and integrity of contracting operations assume even greater importance in light of FPS downsizing,” she said. The Bush administration plans to reduce the number of Federal Protective Service officers to 950, from about 1,200, and rely almost entirely on contractors to guard federal facilities. Local police, rather than FPS personnel, would be called in emergencies. Under the reorganization, FPS officers would concentrate on anti-terrorism planning and oversight of contractors. FPS is responsible for security at about 8,800 facilities nationwide. Norton, who chairs the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management, has held hearings on FPS’s security guard contracts. She said she will introduce legislation to ban security contracts to companies owned by convicted felons after revelations that one FPS contractor had served a prison term for money laundering and conspiracy.