FPS is law-enforcement agency

To the editor:Reporter Rudi Keller, like most other journalists, needs to get his facts straight before writing an article about the U.S. Federal Protective Service. The service is not a contract security company hired by the Department of Homeland Security, as stated in Keller's recent article. To the contrary, the Federal Protective Service is a federal law-enforcement agency that provides police services to various U.S. government facilities and is an integral part of the Department of Homeland Security.

The Federal Protective Service contracts with security companies to provide security to certain federal buildings. The FPS investigates all crimes against federal employees or against properties that are owned, leased or otherwise controlled by the General Services Administration, as well as any other federal properties of other federal facilities when requested to do so by the respective controlling agency.

If someone is committing crimes against federal employees or federal property and makes the serious mistake of confusing the FPS as contract security guards, the violators will quickly find out the true status of the FPS the hard way.

Let's keep the record straight. Many of your readers do not know the difference, and they take a reporter's word as gospel when in fact it is way off base.

CLYDE H. QUEEN SR., U.S. Federal Protective Service (retired), Ozark, Mo.