According to a spreadsheet of lost, damaged and destroyed items, various agencies inside the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported over 1,300 badges and credentials lost or stolen, and no fewer than 165 firearms lost or stolen over the course of 31 months*.
Officials with DHS responded to an email seeking comment, but the response did not provide meaningful answers to questions about the losses, or the potential for security problems as a result. Additionally, DHS did not provide any numbers that would have put such losses into context, such as the number of badges and guns issued across each agency.
Complete Colorado exclusively obtained the inventory under the Freedom of Information Act, and shared the document with Fox News.
Almost 900 of the 1,300 lost or stolen badges or credentials were from the sub-agency Customs and Border Protection (CBP); about 300 were under the responsibility of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and approximately 200 were responsible to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
Michael Brown, former Undersecretary of Homeland Security and Director of FEMA, said the lost badges and credentials represents a serious enough security problem to warrant an investigation by the DHS inspector general.