The US General Services Administration (GSA) is the Federal agency that oversees the protection and safety of Federal Government employees nationwide. The men and women of GSA’s Federal Protective Service, Public Buildings Service, want you and your fellow employees to work in a crime-free environment. We need your assistance to accomplish this.

Some Federal employees seem to think that crime in the workplace is not their problem. They expect professional law enforcement officials - Federal Protective Officers, contract guards, or local police officers - to prevent workplace crimes. This attitude of “it’s not my problem” is not realistic or practical - there are simply too many places to patrol and too few officers for the job.

To help you as a Federal employee to keep your office crime free this document addresses one aspect of office crime - theft. There is a short quiz to help you find out what you know about theft prevention tactics. The next section provides the answers and explains what you can do to discourage or hinder office thieves. GSA’s Federal Protective Service has had a national crime prevention program in place since 1979, in the succeeding years the crime rate has been reduced in Federal buildings. There still remains much to be done to continue this downward trend.

For example in Fiscal Year 1989, thefts from Federal office cost the Government an estimated $1.6 million and Federal workers another $850,000. The real cost in time lost to replace stolen items, disruption of work, and the personal stress associated with the violation of ones security, is immeasurable. Everyone must work harder to become the eyes and ears that will help keep our work environment crime free. This document will tell you what you can do to help.

What Is Your Theft Prevention IQ?