VA security personnel aren’t detecting knives or booze, according to a watchdog report assessing medical facility security

Police officers who guard Veterans Affairs Department medical facilities failed to address security issues in a majority of covert tests conducted by the Government Accountability Office, which also determined that VA leaders have not fully implemented federal building security best practices. 

The report, which was published on Wednesday, found that:

• VA staff at all 30 locations that were examined failed to detect a multi-tool with a prohibited knife blade. Investigators noted that only two of the buildings had metal detectors: one of them was not in use and in the other case the device set the detector off but officers did not act on it. 
• In 25 out of 26 tests, VA employees did not notice or respond to an undercover GAO investigator who was drinking from a bottle that appeared to contain alcohol in a waiting room, even though guards were nearby in more than a quarter of the cases. 
• At eight of 16 facilities, investigators were able to enter nonpublic spaces, such as offices, treatment rooms and a blood draw lab. 

In 2025, GAO similarly reported that contracted guards for agencies governmentwide failed to detect prohibited items in about half of its covert tests. 

The VA has more than 4,300 police officers, physical security specialists and investigators as well as roughly 800 contract security guards. 

VA’s inspector general found that in fiscal 2025 police officers were the most frequently reported severe nonclinical occupational staffing shortage in the department, with 58% of medical facilities saying they didn’t have enough security personnel. 

Quinn Slaven, VA’s press secretary, said by email to Government Executive that officials have worked to address the issue by collaborating with the Office of Personnel Management to reclassify department police officers so that they can receive higher pay. He also said that the VA has consolidated law enforcement operations under one office, so that officers aren’t reporting to multiple different medical center directors. 

GAO also faulted the VA for not adhering to Interagency Security Committee risk management standards for federal buildings. Specifically, officials are not consistently documenting why they make certain security decisions considering available resources or measuring the performance of protective measures. 

The watchdog recommended that VA enact the government facility security guidelines. 

“By fully implementing this standard, VA will be better able to make informed decisions, effectively allocate resources and prioritize security efforts at its medical facilities,” they wrote. “In addition, fully implementing this standard could help VA ensure it has appropriate security at its medical facilities to create a safe environment for veterans and VA staff.”

GAO also recommended in 2018 that the VA incorporate ISC standards, but officials did not do so. 

In the new report, GAO also found that about 98% of the approximately 74,700 crimes reported by the VA police in fiscal years 2024 and 2025 were nonviolent. 

GAO said in the report that the VA did not provide comments on the investigation. Agencies typically offer feedback on investigations by the watchdog that officials then incorporate into the report. Slaven, however, told Government Executive that the VA did submit comments but that GAO didn’t include them. 

In response, a GAO spokesperson said that VA submitted a message agreeing with the recommendations in the report after it had been sent to the senator who requested the investigation.