1 2 3 4 5 6 2 (2) the Offices of Inspectors General in the Feder al Government have lost at least 300 criminal investigators to agencies with full law enforcement authority; (3) many such investigators are often at risk because they are in one man posts of duty; (4) deputization of such investigators to authorize 7 full law enforcement powers may take as long as six ∞ 9 10 11 12 13 14 months; (5) such investigators are required to meet the same experience and training requirements as agents with full law enforcement authority; and (6) the system of operating Offices of Inspectors General with investigators who may not exercise full law enforcement authority is inefficient. 15 SEC. 3. LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY FOR CRIMINAL IN 16 17 18 VESTIGATORS OF THE OFFICES OF INSPECTOR GENERAL. The Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.) is 19 amended by inserting after section 6 the following new 20 section: 21 "LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY FOR CRIMINAL INVESTI 22 23 GATORS OF THE OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL "Sec. 6A. (a) Pursuant to regulations promulgated by 24 the Inspector General of an establishment, Office of Inspec25 tor General criminal investigators who perform any duty of a 26 law enforcement officer as described under section 8331 (20) S 2080, IS 3 1 or 8401 (17) of title 5, United States Code, for the purpose of 2 conducting investigations concerning violations of the laws of 3 the United States related to the programs, personnel and op 4 erations of the establishment may— 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "(1) obtain and execute search and arrest warrants, and serve subpoenas and summonses issued under the authority of the United States; "(2) make arrests without warrant for any offense against the United States committed in their presence, or for any felony cognizable under the laws of the United States if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing such felony; and "(b) The regulations promulgated by the Inspector Gen 16 eral shall comply with policies of the Attorney General of the 17 United States, the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, and 18 other applicable laws and regulations.". ●S 2080 IS Thank you for your letter of September 14, 1990, to Mr. Funk in his capacity as the Vice Chairman of the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency. In that letter, as a follow-up to the hearing held by the Committee on July 18, you asked several questions on the subject of "blanket" deputation of Inspector General investigative personnel. At the request of Mr. Funk, we have polled the Inspectors General who are members of the PCIE and the IGS for the "designated" entities who are represented on the PCIE Coordinating Conference. Information on the Coordinating Conference was collected and summarized by the Inspector General at the National Science Foundation. Please find enclosed a synopsis of all the responses received (enclosure 1), as well as a copy of each response (enclosure 2). Enclosure 1 provides a summary of the responses to questions posed in your letter including: (1) whether "blanket" deputation would satisfy the IGs' need for law enforcement requirements; (2) workload data; (3) the number of times assistance was sought from agencies with law enforcement authority; and, (4) whether the office has any statutory law enforcement authority. The Inspectors General provided a variety of responses to the question on workload data. Some provided percentage information on the basis of staffing allocations (FTE levels) or other workload data, and some provided both numbers of staff (FTEs) and percentages. We have tried in our enclosure 1 to accurately portray the resources information provided to us for FY 1990, bearing in mind that this is the most current data. We have reported the investigative staffing figures as provided to us, recognizing that some offices reported only criminal investigators (1811 series) and other offices reported both investigators and other investigative support staff. In general, PCIE members stated that "blanket" deputation would meet their needs for law enforcement authority until this authority could be provided by statute. One member of the Council (who has limited law enforcement under an existing "blanket" deputation) expressed concern that this process is very unwieldy. Several of the members stated concerns that "blanket" deputation could be a short term alternative to statutory law enforcement authority only if the deputations were initially granted and subsequently renewed by the Department of Justice in an expeditious manner and with a minimum of administrative burden. The Inspectors General reported that they sought assistance from agencies with law enforcement authority in 1,200 instances over the last two years. These requests were for the execution of search warrants, for making arrests, and for assistance in performing other essential investigative functions, such as interviewing of dangerous individuals in high crime areas, and surveillance. This figure excludes responses which simply indicated that cases had been worked "jointly" with an agency having law enforcement authority. Members of the Coordinating Conference reported seeking such assistance of law enforcement agencies in 112 instances during FY 1989 and FY 1990; the GPO, on 4 occasions. The Presidentially appointed Inspectors General reported that 2067 criminal investigators are either employed in or authorized for their offices. Of these criminal investigators, 1749 do not have any statutory law enforcement authority. of the total number of criminal investigators, 1039 have arrest authority from a variety of sources, i.e., 618 (of which 353 are limited to military personnel) by statute, 81 by delegation from the head of the agency, 233 (of which 141 are limited to certain categories of cases) by "blanket" deputation from the Department of Justice, and 107 by deputation on a case-by-case basis from the Department of Justice. Of the total number of criminal investigators, 1039 have search warrant authority from a variety of sources, i.e., 265 by statute, 81 by delegation from the head of the agency, 353 by Executive Order, 233 (of which 142 are limited to certain categories of cases) by "blanket" deputation from the Department of Justice, and 107 by deputation in a case-by-case basis. of the total number of criminal investigators, 1039 have firearms authority from a variety of sources, i.e., 618 by statute, 81 by delegation from the head of the agency, 233 (of which 142 are limited to certain categories of cases) by "blanket" deputation from the Department of Justice, and 107 by deputation on a by-case basis. In addition, four Inspectors General reported that 36 criminal investigators on their staffs are deputized by the Department of Justice for the purpose of providing security to the heads of their respective agencies. (These deputations are limited to that activity.) case of the administratively appointed Inspectors General, including the Government Printing Office, 2055 criminal investigators are reported to be currently authorized for these offices. Please note that of this number, 1973 are in the Postal Inspection Service, all of whom have full law enforcement authority arrest, search warrant and firearms by statute. Of the remaining 82 criminal investigators, only seven of the Amtrak investigators have state law enforcement authority arrest, search warrant, and firearms 35-385-91 - 5 authority as Railroad Police Officers, while Smithsonian's three investigators have arrest and firearms authority by statute, which is limited to the grounds of the Smithsonian. The 11 investigators at GPO are statutorily empowered to make arrests, conduct searches, and carry firearms in connection with their duties on or "immediately adjacent to" GPO property. Please call me or my deputy, Ms. Joyce Fleischman, if we can provide any additional information or assistance in this matter. James R. Richards James R. Richards Chairman, Legislation Committee Enclosures |