nsa police & ammunition theft

["Vladimir Z. Nuri" <vznuri@netcom.com>]

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From: believer@telepath.com
Subject: IP: NSA police suspected in agency thefts

Forwarded:
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>Source: The Baltimore Sun, May 9, 1998
>http://www.sunspot.net
>
>NSA police suspected in agency thefts
>
>50,000 rounds of ammunition reported stolen; 'An active investigation'; 2
>officers allowed to resign; at least 9 others targeted
>
>By Tom Bowman
>Sun National Staff
>
>WASHINGTON -- Nearly a dozen members of the police force that guards the
>top-secret National Security Agency are suspected of stealing ammunition
>from the Fort Meade-based agency, sources and federal officials said
>yesterday.
>
>The thefts, which included up to 50,000 rounds of ammunition, represent an
>embarrassing incident for the NSA, an intelligence agency that eavesdrops
>on foreign communications and makes and breaks codes. Besides NSA
>officials, agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are
>investigating the thefts.
>
>While no arrests have been made, several police officers have been
>implicated, officials said. But details about the thefts and the progress
>of the investigation remained sketchy yesterday.
>
>Larry Stewart, special agent in charge of the bureau's Baltimore office,
>declined to comment on the amount of ammunition stolen or the number of
>officers from the NSA's Security Protective Officer force who are under
>investigation.
>
>"That I can't share with you," Stewart said. "The only thing I can tell you
>is it's an active investigation, and we can't comment on that."
>
>NSA officials also declined to discuss the investigation. The agency
>released a brief statement yesterday saying it was "nearing completion on
>an investigation involving Security Protective Officers."
>
>Agency sources said two sergeants on the force have been allowed to resign
>as a result of the investigation, including one who oversaw the force's
>ammunition and weapons. At least nine other officers are under
>investigation.
>
>The sergeant who was in charge of ammunition, William R. Fabus, said he had
>resigned voluntarily on May 1 after he was questioned by agents.
>
>"I was not aware that anything was missing," said Fabus, 36, of
>Catonsville, adding that he expects no further inquiries or criminal
>charges. "I was told there was nothing criminal that I did."Fabus, a
>10-year veteran of the force, declined to say why he had abruptly resigned.
>"I don't know where I'm stepping," he said. "If I give out any information
>considered national security stuff, it would be adverse toward me."
>
>Officer named others
>
>Officials would not say when they believe the thefts began or how they were
>detected, though one former agency employee said the thefts had been
>occurring for at least two months. The source said one officer was caught
>and began implicating others.
>
>The thefts have resulted in new security procedures at the agency, sources
>said, and employees have been warned not to talk about the investigation.
>The NSA, which employs about 23,000 people at Fort Meade, is the largest
>employer in Maryland.
>
>As part of the inquiry, investigators found grenades and assault rifles,
>although neither were NSA property, sources said.
>
>"It shocked a lot of people," the former employee, who requested anonymity,
>said of the thefts. "[The officers] are not kids; they've been working
>there a long time."
>
>The uniformed police force includes several hundred officers and provides
>security at NSA's sprawling complex off the Baltimore-Washington Parkway
>and its satellite locations throughout Maryland.
>
>Top-security clearance
>
>The officers, whose average salary is about $30,000, undergo two months of
>training at a facility in Georgia with other federal police officers, and
>carry either 9 mm or 38-caliber handguns, former members of the force said.
>
>They also possess the government's top-security clearance, known as SCI for
>Sensitive Compartmented Information, the eavesdropping product that is
>among the nation's most guarded secrets.
>
>Officials would not say whether they suspect that the officers were using
>the ammunition for their own use or were selling it. FBI spokesmen and
>staffers on the congressional intelligence oversight committees said they
>were unaware of the investigation.
>
>"This is the first I've heard of it," Larry Foust, an FBI spokesman in
>Baltimore, said when called by a reporter. One top FBI official in
>Washington privately expressed surprise that the bureau had not been
>notified, considering the possible extent of the theft.
>
>Morale problems
>
>Besides the thefts, agency officials have pointed to administrative and
>morale troubles among the force. In a recent report, portions of which were
>obtained by The Sun, the agency noted tensions among the uniformed police
>supervisors, many of whom are high school graduates, and a rising number of
>college-educated officers who are being hired.
>
>"The supervisors may feel threatened by subordinates who may be brighter
>and more willing to empower themselves to make independent decisions," the
>report said.
>
>Moreover, the report said, newly hired officers have not been given a
>"realistic job preview."
>
>"It was widely believed that applicants may have been misled to believe
>that the job entailed more sophisticated and responsible police functions
>than actually take place," according to the report. "Boredom and lower
>levels of job satisfaction are believed to be widespread amongst the more
>educated [officers]."
>
>Sun staff writer Larry Carson contributed to this article.
>
>Originally published on May 8 1998


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