Protection of Federal Office Buildings Against Terrorism (1988)
Chapter: Summary
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Summary
In response to a request from the 14 agencies that comprise the Federal Construction Council, the Building Research Board established a committee of experts (including professionals in the fields of physical security, architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, law, engineering, and behavioral research) to develop guidance for federal agencies to improve the security of persons, buildings, and information from terrorist attack. To do this, the committee first limited the scope of its concerns to existing federal office buildings (or similar types of facilities). It reviewed the history of terrorist attacks against federal facilities in this country and developed a methodology for assessing threats and analyzing a building's vulnerability. The committee developed security guidelines for buildings and sites, as well as guidelines for security management including guidelines for scaling back or removing security measures.
This report is directed primarily at the management of the Federal Construction Council agencies and, to a lesser extent, at the managers of individual facilities. While the report may be of interest to security specialists, the material is not intended to educate or convey state-of-the-art information to professionals in the security field.
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As such, this committee offers the following recommendations:
1. An ongoing security program should be developed and implemented by agencies that own or lease federal office buildings.
2. Top management should be responsible for security policy and implementation.
3. Security strategies should be developed with a clear understanding and assessment of the threat.
4. A formal means of threat communication should be established.
5. Every federal office building should undergo a vulnerability analysis.
6. A base line or minimum level of protection should be established for each federal office building.
7. Temporary protective measures should be systematically reviewed.
