Jun Zhang/Xinhua/ZUMAPRESS.com
The Department of Defense’s inspector general released a new report on Tuesday afternoon showing that, in an effort to cut costs, the Navy bungled its efforts to control how government contractors gained access to naval facilities. The report lands a day after 34-year-old Aaron Alexis killed 12 people at a Navy Yard facility in southeast Washington, DC. It was the fifth mass shooting of 2013. Alexis worked as part of a government subcontract under Hewlett-Packard, and he entered the Navy Yard with a valid badge.
The report found that 52 convicted felons had received “routine, unauthorized installation access, placing military personnel, civilians, and installations at an increased security risk.” The reason, the inspector general found, was because the Navy “attempted to reduce access control costs.” You can read the full report below:
