Compensation and Staffing Levels of FAA Police Force at Washington National and Washington Dulles International Airports

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed compensation and staffing levels of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) police force at Washington National and Washington Dulles International Airports. GAO found that: (1) FAA police officers are paid less than most federal and nonfederal police officers in the Washington metropolitan area, causing recruitment and retention problems; and (2) on-board staffing levels are 25-percent less than authorized. Former police officers indicated that some of their reasons for leaving the FAA force included better pay and benefits, management/employee relations, working conditions, advancement opportunities, and performance recognition. While FAA has tried to correct some problems through more aggressive recruiting efforts, GAO believes that it would be more appropriate to treat the problems as part of an overall assessment of compensation issues, rather than as a separate issue, because of the pay disparities among federal police forces. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) began, but never completed, a study on federal police officers' compensation and classification processes.

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