SAFETY AND SECURITY: Management of the Police Department Has Recently Improved, but Foundational Decisions Are Needed on its Role and Priorities

The objective for this report was to evaluate the extent to which the company employs key practices to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of its police force.

We found that, over the past two years, the company has significantly improved its oversight and management of its police department but has not reached a consensus on the full scope of Amtrak Police Department’s (APD) role and priorities—a foundational decision from which all other policing decisions flow. Further, the company has not developed systematic processes to determine APD’s optimum size or composition. As a result, the company does not have reasonable assurance that it is using its police department efficiently and effectively and could be exposed to unforeseen risks to its security, operations, finances, and brand.

To better ensure that APD is effectively and efficiently meeting the company’s needs and addressing its risks, we recommended that the company and police department reach a consensus on the full scope of APD’s role and priorities. Once it has done so, we recommended that the company develop data‐driven, risk‐based processes to determine the department’s optimal size and staffing composition and ensure that those decisions—as well as decisions about allocation, goals, and metrics—align with APD’s role and priorities.