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Rights/Reprints

Here are all the challenges:

• Counterterrorism
  • The Inspector General said the DOJ must ensure that its components communicate effectively between each other on terrorism matters.
  • The Inspector General expressed concern about the DOJ’s ability to address an attack from a weapon of mass destruction. The FBI is prepared for that incident, but the DOJ as a whole had “uncoordinated and fragmented” plans for responding to a WMD attack, the Inspector General said. The Inspector General said the DOJ is taking steps toward improving its plans for addressing a WMD incident.
  • The Inspector General said the DOJ took “positive steps” to improve coordination between the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on bomb cases. But the Inspector General said the DOJ must guarantee the FBI and ATF follow new procedures on explosives cases.
  • The Inspector General reviewed the management of the FBI’s consolidated terrorist watchlist in May 2009, raising concerns about the bureau’s practices. The Inspector General said a review is underway to assess efforts to address worries with the watchlist.
  • The Inspector General is currently looking into terrorist financing probes and prosecutions by the FBI and National Security Division.
  • The Inspector General noted plans by the FBI to more effectively utilize agents working on terrorism cases and hire more employees with language skills necessary for counterterrorism work.
• Restoring Confidence in the DOJ
  • The Inspector General said the DOJ took “important steps” toward addressing concerns of politicization in the department during the George W. Bush administration. But concerns still exist.
  • The Inspector General said the DOJ has taken into consideration career attorneys’ political or ideological beliefs when making temporary appointments to select, high-level posts.
  • The Inspector General urged the DOJ to make more transparent efforts to address allegations of prosecutorial misconduct in the wake of errors that led to the dismissal of the corruption case against former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska.)
  • The Inspector General is reviewing how the Civil Rights Division enforces voting laws after allegations of misconduct on a voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party.
  • The Office of the Inspector General is waiting for a response from the FBI on recommendations the Inspector General made to combat cheating on a required bureau exam.
• Southwest border law enforcement matters
  • The Inspector General said the ATF needs an implementation plan and not just a strategy to effectively address Inspector General concerns about efforts to combat gun trafficking on the Southwest border.
  • The Inspector General said the Drug Enforcement Administration is taking steps to improve intelligence gathering at the El Paso Intelligence Center after the Inspector General expressed concern about weaknesses at the center.
  • The Inspector General is reviewing the backlog of cases in the immigration courts and the growing number of vacancies in the courts.
• Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
  • The Inspector General called on the FBI to act on commitments it made in response to an Inspector General report that criticized the bureau for improperly targeting advocacy groups — including Greenpeace and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals — in terrorism investigations between 2001 and 2006.
  • The Inspector General is reviewing efforts by the FBI to address concerns about the inappropriate use of National Security Letters, which are authorized under the Patriot Act. An Inspector General report released in January found that the FBI improperly used the NSL’s to obtain phone records through informal requests by post-it notes, telephone, e-mails and what the FBI called “sneak peeks.”
  • The Inspector General has also initiated other reviews into DOJ efforts to protect civil liberties while conducting terrorism investigations.
• Information Technology Systems Planning, Implementation, and Security
  • The Inspector General chided DOJ for difficulties it has had in employing information technology systems on time and on budget.
  • The Inspector General said the DOJ’s use of a decentralized process for IT project development creates duplicate work and unnecessary costs.
  • The Inspector General criticized the Department IT Investment Review Board, which oversees important DOJ technology investments. The board relies on updates about projects from DOJ components, making it difficult for the panel to avert setbacks, the Inspector General said.
  • The Inspector General expressed concerns with the scrapped Justice Management Division’s project to make a litigation case management system, the FBI’s Next Generation Identification project to create an automated system for exchanging fingerprint and other biometric data and the bureau’s Sentinel project to create a case management system. The Inspector General said the projects experienced significant setbacks, which led to delays and excessive costs.
• Violent and organized crime
  • The DOJ is deciding whether it should merge three Criminal Division sections, including the National Gang Targeting, Enforcement, and Coordination Center and the Criminal Division’s Gang Unit, to create the Organized Crime and Gang Section. The department proposed the merger after the Inspector General found in November 2009 a lack of collaboration on gang cases between some DOJ sections.
  • The Inspector General said the DOJ has made improvements in its efforts to combat violent crime, noting a 5.6 percent decrease in violent crime between 2008 and 2009. But the Inspector General said the FBI must continue efforts to reduce the forensic DNA case backlog and fix inaccurate and incomplete National Sex Offender Registry information.
  • The Inspector General is reviewing whether changes were made to gun dealer inspections to address concerns in 2004 that the examinations were infrequent and not the same every time.
• Financial Crimes and Cyber Crimes
  • The DOJ has boosted efforts to effectively combat identity theft, after a March 2010 Inspector General report expressed concern that the department had not created a complete strategy to address identity theft.
  • The Inspector General is assessing efforts by the FBI National Cyber Investigative Joint Task Force and bureau field offices to ensure that cyber crime does not impact national security.
  • The Inspector General is also reviewing the DOJ Justice Security Operations Center, which defends the department from cyber attacks.
• Detention and incarceration
  • The Bureau of Prisons has not created a way to figure out whether institutions have looked at alternatives to isolation when protecting inmates who were sexually abused behind bars. The BOP told the Inspector General in 2009 that it would consider alternatives to isolation.
  • The Inspector General urged the DOJ to adopt national standards on protecting inmates from rape.
  • The Inspector General is reviewing BOP practices for hiring correctional officers.
  • The Inspector General noted efforts Federal Prison Industries over the last few years to protect inmate workers from harmful chemicals.
  • The Inspector General urged the BOP to work with the union representing prison employees to settle differences on about 50 issues in a timely manner.
  • The Inspector General is auditing the process the U.S. Marshals Service uses to set rates with local and state for federal detainees.
• Grant Management
  • The Inspector General said the DOJ usually implemented Recovery Act programs in a “timely, fair, and objective manner” and took steps to improve its management of grants. But the Inspector General said incorporating all the changes into the grant management process will take time.
  • The Inspector General said some problems still exist in the grant management and application processes that incorrectly awarded applicants with grants.
  • The Inspector General said the DOJ should note the reasoning behind its decisions when it gives grants to applicants who received low rankings from peer reviewers.
  • The Inspector General called on the Office on Violence Against Women to resolve Inspector General recommendations made in 2006 about questioned grant costs.
• Financial Management
  • The Inspector General said the DOJ has improved its financial reporting and management over the last few years. But the Inspector General expressed concern with the amount of money spent to achieve that success, which came from the DOJ’s use of contractors and labor-intensive efforts. The Inspector General said the DOJ must continue efforts to streamline and modernize its financial management system.