Federal Protective Service

The U.S. Federal Protective Service is an office within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency.

The Federal Protective Service employs over 1,200 Federal Police Officers, Inspectors, and Special Agents. These officers are tasked with the protection of over 9,000 federal buildings and properties that are either leased or owned by the U.S. General Services Administration or the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

More information about the FPS can be found here, and here.

Scanning the Federal Protective Service

The Federal Protective Service is divided into 11 regions throughout the United States.

• Region 1 - New England
• Region 2 - Northeast & Caribbean
• Region 3 - Mid-Atlantic
• Region 4 - Southeast
• Region 5 - Central
• Region 6 - Heartland
• Region 7 - Greater Southwest
• Region 8 - Rocky Mountain
• Region 9 - Pacific Rim
• Region 10 - Northwest & Arctic
• Region 11 - National Capitol Region

A map of the FPS Regions can be found on the ICE website.

Each of these regions is assigned to a "MegaCenter" who provides alarm monitoring and emergency dispatch services to the units in the field. There are four such centers in the United States.

• MegaCenter Philadelphia (Pennsylvania; Serves Regions 1, 2, 3)
• MegaCenter Battle Creek (Michigan; Serves Regions 4, 5, 6)
• MegaCenter Denver (Colorado; Serves Regions 7, 8, 9, 10)
• MegaCenter Suitland (Maryland; Serves Region 11)

More information about the MegaCenters can be found here.

Each unit in the field is assigned a distinctive sequence number to identify their region and assignment. Assignment designators are as follows:

• GEORGE - Contract Guards
• IDA - Investigators
• KING - Canine Unit
• PAUL - Patrol Officer
• SAM - Supervisor
• TOM - Physical Security Specialist (Non-Commissioned)
• VICTOR - Commander

 Example Unit Number: 11 GEORGE 199
 The first digits indicate what region the unit is assigned to.
 In this example the officer is assigned to the National Capitol Region (Region 11)
 
 The next designator is a letter, this letter indicates what type or assignment
 the unit holds.
 In this example "GEORGE" indicates that the unit is a Contract Security Guard.
 
 The third number is an individual officer number.

Frequencies by MegaCenter & Region

The most common frequencies nationwide are 417.200 and 415.200. Squelch tones (PL, DPL, NAC) and actual frequencies will vary by location. Some areas are using APCO-25 Common Air Interface digital. Full time or part time encryption is also being employed by some areas and regions.

MegaCenter Philadelphia (Regions 1, 2, 3)

Region 1 (New England)
 417.2000 NAC 295  Boston, New Haven (logged in CT, MA, ME, NH, RI)
 *Local area sites (building specific) may be using NAC 293 or 294 in this region.

Region 2 (Northeast)
 417.2000 NAC 293  New York

Region 3 (Mid-Atlantic)
 413.8750 CSQ      Pittsburg, Philadelphia, Baltimore (PL 123.0 reported in use in Philadelphia) 

MegaCenter Battle Creek (Regions 4, 5, 6)

Region 4 (Southeast)
 417.200 Unk      (Unconfirmed, Reported in use in FL. See Federal Monitoring Forum for discussion)
 415.200 PL 192.8 Miami, West Palm Beach?
 415.200 PL 192.8 Louisville (Alternate PL reported to be 118.8)
 415.200 Unk      Memphis
 *Atlanta area operations are on the Atlanta Federal TRS

Region 5 (Central) 
 407.000 NAC 201  Cleveland, Toledo
 406.200 Unk      Indianapolis (P25, Unknown NAC)
 407.000 NAC 201  Minneapolis/St. Paul
 408.200 NAC 201  Detroit
 406.700 NAC 201  Chicago (Primary), Milwaukee
 406.200 NAC 201  Milwaukee (Primary), Chicago

Region 6 (Heartland)
 417.200 Unk      St. Louis (P25, Unknown NAC; Partial Encryption reported)

MegaCenter Denver (Regions 7, 8, 9, 10)

Region 7 (Greater Southwest)
 415.200 CSQ      Dallas/Ft. Worth Dispatch
 419.150 CSQ      Dallas Tactical
 419.650 CSQ      Ft. Worth Tactical
 415.200 PL 103.5 Austin
 415.200 PL 103.5 Houston
 415.200 Unk      El Paso
 415.200 PL 103.5 Oklahoma City
 415.200 PL 103.5 Little Rock

Region 8 (Rocky Mountain)
 410.800 DCS 125  Fort Collins, Loveland, Greeley
 *Denver/Boulder operations are on the Front Range Federal TRS
 *Salt Lake City operations are on the Hill AFB TRS

Region 9 (Pacific Rim)
 417.200 PL 127.3 San Fransisco, Sacramento, Southern California

Region 10 (Northwest & Arctic)
 408.200 NAC 114  "Regional"
 417.200 NAC 114  "Regional"
 417.200 NAC 114  "Direct"
 415.175 NAC 114  "Guard Tac"
 413.950 NAC 114  "Guard Tac"
 408.200 NAC 114  "Everett"
 410.800 NAC 114  "Issaquah"
 417.200 NAC 114  "Issaquah"
 410.800 NAC 114  "Olympia"
 417.200 NAC 114  "Olympia"
 408.200 NAC 107  "Portland"
 417.200 NAC 107  "Portland"
 408.200 NAC 114  "Tacoma"
 417.200 NAC 114  "Tacoma"
 407.000 NAC 114  "EGWW Gar" Green-Wyatt Federal Bulding Guards?
 413.475 NAC 114  "E-WA Gd" East Washington Guard Ch?
 411.0375 NAC 114  "FL Ward 1"
 413.950 NAC 293  "ODS Ptnd" ODS Tower, Portland?
 407.000 NAC 141  "SpokaneFB" Spokane Federal Bulding?
 415.200 NAC 114  "TacomaSSA" Tacoma Social Security Admin.?
 408.200 Unk      Anchorage
 413.950 NAC 114  "JunoFBks1" Juno-Fairbanks Ch 1?
 
 *Quoted text denotes channel name.

MegaCenter Suitland (Region 11)

Region 11 (National Capitol, includes Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC)
 415.200 NAC 201  National Capitol Region Ch 1/2 (Partial Encryption)
 417.200 NAC 201  National Capitol Region Ch 3/4 (Partial Encryption)
 414.475 NAC 203  National Capitol Region Ch 5/6 (Partial Encryption)

FPS may also use the following frequencies:

• 411.2750
• 412.4000
• 414.4750
• 417.2500
• 417.4250
• 418.0750
• 419.1500
• 419.6500