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Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel lost more than 200 firearms and close to 1,900 badges over a three-year period, according to a new watchdog report.
Between fiscal 2014 and 2016, DHS personnel lost 228 firearms, 1,889 badges and 25 secure immigration stamps, with many left unattended or unsecured, DHS's Office of the Inspector General said in an audit released Tuesday.
Those numbers are down slightly from the inspector general's last audit, conducted in 2010, which found that DHS personnel lost 289 handguns, rifles and shotguns over a three-year period.
The latest audit found personnel do not always safeguard sensitive assets, and were not always held accountable for failing to do so. In a review of 115 case files, auditors noted 65 instances where badges, firearms or stamps were not properly protected, according to the report.
In one example, two off-duty Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers left their firearms unattended in backpacks while on a beach in Puerto Rico. When the officers returned, the bags were gone.
Watchdog: DHS employees lost 228 firearms over three years