The Department of Justice Has an Abundance of Cleared Positions

When you think of the types of jobs the Department of Justice (DOJ) has, most likely you are thinking of lawyers, accountants, judges, clerks, etc., and not all of these positions require a security clearance. In actuality, this is but the tip of the iceberg. There are thousands of other positions in the DOJ’s sub-organizations that require a security clearance. The first sub-organization that comes to mind is the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and everyone knows to be a G-Man you have to undergo a polygraph and obtain Top Secret/SCI eligibility. But there are many other organizations that also require the highest level of vetting. Here are some examples:

–          Drug Enforcement Administration

–          Bureau of Prisons

–          U.S. Marshals Service

–          Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives

–          Interpol Washington

All of these sub-organization have many cleared positions, as well as having a huge, cleared contractor workforce providing support. Additionally, specific divisions and offices that support DOJ programs and initiatives require security clearances. The DOJ’s National Security Division Executive Office is responsible for processing and tracking clearance statuses using the Justice Security Tracking and Adjudication Record System (JSTARS). My own observations regarding the use of this system are not positive. Not many outside of the DOJ have access to JSTARS and this causes a problem when other agencies are trying to verify the investigation and clearance of someone who was vetted by the DOJ. Hopefully in the near future the DOJ will dump JSTARS for a system commonly used by other agencies.