Protection Strategies Incorporated (PSI) was recently awarded two Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPA) with the Department of State's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) to provide law enforcement instructors for counter narcotics programs in Latin America and Mexico.  The training programs are designed to assist in the institutionalization of standardized law enforcement practices in local, state, and federal police programs throughout Latin America and Mexico. PSI was selected based on our highly-rated prior experience providing training and administrative personnel at various Federal agencies, as well as our international experience.

Based on PSI's unparalleled experience evaluating assessments, PSI has been contracted to conduct analysis and comparison of previously conducted vulnerability assessments against the current security posture for seven (7) material storage sites operated by the DNSC. PSI's staff of security experts will provide the DNSC with recommendations for corrective measures based on identified deficiencies. This effort will require PSI to conduct in-depth research and analysis on each of the identified storage sites. PSI will conduct on-site inspections and evaluation of existing security procedures, conduct personnel interviews of site managers protective force members, conduct liaison with local law enforcement and emergency services providers, and review site emergency plans. Based on the information gained through these efforts, PSI will provide the DNSC with custom tailored site analysis and assessment survey reports for each of the identified facilities.

PSI's team of experts, who have over 100 years of combined experience in military intelligence, law enforcement, security force, and security training, will assess each site’s security posture and make recommendations for site specific security plans, identify appropriate countermeasures, and conduct a cost/benefit analysis to determine methods to mitigate identified risks, or recommend means that obtain acceptable levels of risk. All recommendations will be in accordance with established Department of Defense Force Protection standards and criteria guidelines.

Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD) -7 required all Departments and Agencies to submit detailed Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) Plans to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval by July 31, 2004. PSI provided lead support for the development and implementation of this project for the U.S. Department of State. Under the signature of the Deputy Secretary of State, the Department submitted its Plan to OMB on July 30, 2004.

Although all Federal agencies were required to submit CIP Plans in accordance with this HSPD, many failed to do so. Of those agencies that submitted Plans, relatively few were approved.

The Department of State gained approval from OMB for the cyber portion of its CIP Plan. OMB evaluated 59 categories of the Plan, using a scale of 1 to 3, with 1 being the lowest score and 3 being the highest. The Plan developed by PSI for the Department of State scored 2.8.

The United States Coast Guard (USCG), National Maritime Center recently awarded PSI a task order to perform screening and investigation of individuals for Merchant Mariner Document Licensing.

PSI has been providing personnel security support to the USCG since 2002; when the Merchant Mariner Credentialing program was originally brought to Arlington, Virginia to standardize and centralize the process of screening and evaluating Merchant Mariner Documents for Credentials and Licenses. PSI has since assessed the operational and security process and provided critical assistance and feedback to the USCG to refine and perform the process with optimum accuracy and efficiency. PSI developed key elements designed to improve and streamline the screening and investigation processes, and developed and implemented a Quality Management Program to ensure the accuracy of each recommendation.

Additionally, PSI recently completed a surge requirement to thoroughly and accurately review license holder renewals, with existing derogatory information, and determine the continued suitability of each Mariner. This formidable task, to complete over 13,000 cases within a 6 month period, was successfully completed on time and under budget.

Based on PSI's demonstrated success, PSI was awarded the new task to process individuals for Merchant Mariner Documents and Licenses.