US Customs and Border Protection's Ground Transportation of ...

Appendix APurpose, Scope, and MethodologyOur objective was to determine whether the U.S. Customs andBorder Protection (CBP) Transportation Program ManagementOffice (PMO) developed an effective plan to provide efficient andcost effective ground transportation for detainees.To accomplish our objective, we reviewed and analyzed applicablelaws and regulations; prior audit reports; CBP documentationestablishing and managing the Transportation PMO, ExecutiveCoordinating Council, and Integrated Project Team outputs; andcontract documents related to transportation services from August2006 through August 2010.We interviewed CBP headquarters personnel from the SecureBorder Initiative, Field Operations, and Border Patrol, includingstaff from the Transportation PMO. We also spoke with personnelfrom the Office of Border Patrol Workforce Management, Financeand Logistics branches, CBP Acquisition and ProgramManagement Offices, as well as personnel from TransportationPMO contractor companies.We analyzed cost models that the Transportation PMO used toestimate contract and CBP alternatives to support long-termtransportation decisions. We also reviewed analysis performed byTransportation PMO contractors that the office included in its costmodels. We reviewed data from apprehension and timekeepingsystems to see whether they contained information that CBP coulduse to determine transportation needs.We selected and visited field locations in California and Arizonabased on high rates of apprehensions and border-crossing statistics.We toured one Border Patrol station and two ports of entry in SanDiego, CA, and two Border Patrol stations and two ports of entryin Tucson, AZ. We also visited the Border Patrol and FieldOperations headquarters offices in both locations. During thesevisits, we spoke with field personnel, including chiefs, shiftsupervisors, and agents at Border Patrol stations and at BorderPatrol sectors. We spoke with port directors, watch commanders,and CBP officers at ports of entry and Field Operations offices.We conducted this performance audit between April andSeptember 2010 under the authority of the Inspector General Actof 1978, as amended, and according to generally acceptedgovernment auditing standards. Those standards require that weplan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriateevidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings andU.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Ground Transportation of Detainees Page 11