Updated
FBI Response to the Department of Justice, Office of Inspector General’s
findings in the matter of the Tiffany globe and other items taken from
World Trade Center recovery sites
Washington, D.C. -- With the FBI's full cooperation, the Department
of Justice Office of the Inspector General (IG) investigated an allegation
related to the removal by an FBI Agent of a Tiffany globe from a World
Trade Center recovery site. The IG also looked at other instances where
items were removed from the site by FBI Agents.
The FBI commends the IG for an extensive and thorough review of the
issues present in this matter, and welcomes the IG's recommendation
to establish
a formal policy to guide employees in the future. While the removal
of evidence or personal effects from an official site is never permissible,
the FBI did not have an established policy that applied to items determined
not to be evidentiary in nature, of forensics value, or identified
as
a personal item belonging to a particular person. Following the IG’s
recommendations, the FBI established a policy for evidence recovery
personnel that is being broadened to cover all employees and will be
fully implemented
in the very near future. The policy calls for much greater management
oversight and provides FBI employees with clear instructions on the
removal of non-evidentiary items from a recovery site for any purpose.
It effectively
prohibits the removal of any items by personnel at a site.
Concerning World Trade Center recovery sites, where more than 400 FBI
Agents joined thousands of local, state and federal officers in an
effort to process nearly two million tons of debris, the IG reported
on a number
of Agents who had removed debris and other items, apparently as a lasting
remembrance of this fearful, historic crime scene. The IG cited misconduct
on the part of two employees and recommended discipline. Those cases
and others are under review by the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility
(OPR).
In a further effort to improve accountability, the FBI is undertaking
a significant overhaul of its disciplinary system. In May 2003, Director
Robert S. Mueller, III asked former Attorney General Griffin Bell and
Dr. Lee Colwell to conduct an independent study of the OPR and its
processes. The study was completed on February 27, 2004, and a report
a submitted
with a series of recommendations for improving the FBI’s disciplinary
system. The Director welcomed the recommendations and announced that
he will assign an Inspector in Charge to oversee the implementation
of each major recommendation to ensure that swift progress is made
towards
implementing the improvements suggested by the study.
Among the recommendations that the FBI will soon implement, are the
development of more clearly defined offenses and penalties, a new management
structure,
and new technology, to improve the transparency, speed, and fairness
of the disciplinary process. The full report and the FBI’s response
are available at www.fbi.gov.
We would like to express our sympathy for the families of World Trade
Center victims whose grief may be compounded by the report of this
misconduct. The nearly 28,000 dedicated men and women of the FBI are
committed to
the highest standards of professional conduct. Even the perception
of anything less is not acceptable and is a disservice to the American
public.
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