FBI missing another 160 weapons, including shotguns and submachine guns

FBI missing another 160 weapons, including shotguns and submachine guns
Date: Feb 13, 2007 10:51 AM
PUBLICATION: The Ottawa Citizen
DATE: 2007.02.13
EDITION: Final
SECTION: News
PAGE: A10
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: The Associated Press
WORD COUNT: 127

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Lost weapons, computers concern FBI

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WASHINGTON - Three or four FBI laptop computers are lost or stolen each
month and the agency is unable to say in many instances whether
information on the machines is sensitive or classified, the U.S. Justice
Department's inspector general said yesterday.

The inspector general said the FBI is reducing thefts and losses of
weapons and computers, but admits "more needs to be done."

The Boston field office reported a stolen laptop containing software for
creating identification badges. The laboratory division at Quantico,
Virginia, said a stolen laptop contained names, addresses and phone
numbers of FBI personnel. Of the 160 laptops lost or stolen over a
44-month period, 10 contained sensitive or classified information. The
bureau did not know whether 51 others did.

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PUBLICATION: The Washington Post
DATE: 2007.02.13
SECTION: Asection
PAGE: A06
BYLINE: Dan Eggen
WORD COUNT: 784

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FBI Reports On Missing Laptops and Weapons

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The FBI said that 160 laptop computers were lost or stolen in less than
four years, including at least 10 that contained sensitive or classified
information -- one of which held "personal identifying information on
FBI personnel," according to a report released yesterday.

The bureau, which has struggled for years to improve its sloppy
inventory procedures, also reported the same number of missing weapons
-- 160 -- from February 2002 to September 2005. Those weapons included
shotguns and submachine guns, according to the report by Justice
Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine.

In addition to the 10 laptops that were confirmed to contain sensitive
information, the FBI could not say whether 51 other computers may also
contain secret data, the report said. Six were assigned to the
counterintelligence division and a seventh belonged to the
counterterrorism division. Both units routinely handle classified
information.

"Without knowing the content of these lost and stolen laptops, it is
impossible for the FBI to determine the extent of the damage these
losses might have had on its operations or on national security," the
report said.

The results are an improvement on findings in a similar audit in 2002,
which reported that 354 weapons and 317 laptops were lost or stolen at
the FBI over about two years. They follow the high-profile losses last
year of laptops containing personal information from the Veterans
Administration and the Internal Revenue Service.

In a statement yesterday, FBI Assistant Director John Miller emphasized
that the report showed "significant progress in decreasing the rate of
loss for weapons and laptops" at the FBI. The average number of laptops
or guns that went missing dropped from about 12 per month to four per
month for each category, according to the report.

But several lawmakers said they are still concerned about the FBI's
difficulties in keeping track of weapons and sensitive data.

" 'Making progress' may seem like a win for the FBI, but it's
unacceptable when you're talking about lost weapons and computers with
sensitive information, " said Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), a
member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a frequent FBI critic.

The report acknowledged the FBI's improved loss rates, and said that
"some weapons and laptops will inevitably be stolen or go missing" in
a
large law enforcement agency. But investigators said they were still
troubled by the numbers of lost or stolen items and the haphazard
record-keeping surrounding them.

The FBI maintains more than 52,000 weapons and 26,000 laptops, according
to the report.

The FBI failed to report 20 percent of the missing weapons and 76
percent of the missing laptops to the Justice Department as required,
the report found. In the case of stolen or lost weapons, the bureau even
failed to enter the losses into its own criminal information database,
the report said.

It also said that in four of the 10 confirmed cases involving missing
laptops that contained sensitive data, FBI officials did not attempt to
assess the potential damage to national security.

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (Va.), the ranking Republican member of the
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said the Justice
Department reported only two missing laptops to his committee when asked
for a tally of incidents last year.

"This is the latest in a long string of personal information breaches at
federal agencies, and there is no end in sight," Davis said.

The FBI quarreled with the inclusion of 43 missing weapons in the
current report, saying that they were lost or stolen before the inquiry
began. But Fine's investigators said the report includes all weapons and
laptops reported missing during the study period, and noted that the
weapons in question were not included in the previous audit.

To "delete them would give the appearance that the FBI had 43 fewer lost
or stolen weapons than was actually the case," the report said.

The FBI reported that the contents were unknown for six of the 10
missing laptops with potentially sensitive data.

The rest included one in Boston with software for creating
identification badges; one in New Orleans used to process digital images
from surveillance operations; and one stolen from the security division
that contained a "security plan" for an electronic access system. The
final laptop was stolen from the FBI Laboratory at Quantico and
contained the names, addresses and telephone numbers of FBI employees.
The lost or stolen weapons include "handguns, rifles, shotguns and
submachine guns," the report said. More than 80 percent were pistols,
and about 10 percent were training weapons that did not use live
ammunition.

The 2002 report found nearly 1,000 firearms were missing at the FBI and
other Justice agencies, including at least 18 weapons later recovered by
local police departments in connection with criminal investigations.
Several were used in armed robberies and one was found in the pocket of
a murder victim, according to the previous audit.




The Second Amendment IS Homeland Security !