Navy Inspectors General: Investigations of Complaints and Inspection Practices Need Strengthening
AIMD-94-128
Published: Aug 24, 1994. Publicly Released: Sep 08, 1994.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Navy's Inspector General (IG) organization's complaint resolution and Navy unit inspection activities.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of the Navy | To strengthen the complaint and inspection activities of the Navy IG organization, the Secretary of the Navy should direct the Navy statutory IG to establish a requirement that all individuals who investigate complaints, and their immediate supervisors, certify that they are aware of the requirements to maintain independence and to perform their investigations in accordance with DOD and Navy directives. |
DOD believes that the requirement for independence is emphasized by Navy training, investigative guidance and higher-level review of the investigative work, and does not plan to require a separate certification for independence.
|
| Department of the Navy | To strengthen the complaint and inspection activities of the Navy IG organization, the Secretary of the Navy should direct the Navy statutory IG to effectively implement the planned Navy IG complaint corrective actions, particularly development of an investigations manual and the related training for IG staffs. |
DOD concurs with the recommendation and has agreed to train its investigators.
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| Department of the Navy | To strengthen the complaint and inspection activities of the Navy IG organization, the Secretary of the Navy should direct the Navy statutory IG to establish an IG quality assurance review process to ensure that complaint procedures are being followed and that complaint and inspection trends are used in planning inspections. |
DOD partially concurs with the recommendation. DOD agrees that the weaknesses reported by GAO show the need for increased emphasis on investigative quality. DOD believes the improved guidance and training given to Navy IG staff, is expected to enhance the quality of the investigative work. DOD also believes that the planned DOD IG evaluation of Navy IG investigative activities will assess the Navy IG staff's ability to produce consistently sound investigative work. The review should identify any impediments to investigative quality and recommend appropriate corrective action. DOD agrees that complaint and inspection trends of Navy components should be used in planning inspections and that trend analyses results will be provided to the Navy IG on a semiannual basis. DOD believes that these actions meet the intent of the GAO recommendation.
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| Department of the Navy | To strengthen the complaint and inspection activities of the Navy IG organization, the Secretary of the Navy should direct the Navy statutory IG to provide copies of Navy statutory IG reports to the cognizant Assistant Secretaries of Defense who have policy responsibility for the matters discussed in the report and send a semiannual list to cognizant congressional committees that summarizes inspections completed by the statutory and command level IG. |
DOD nonconcurs with this recommendation. DOD does not agree that Navy IG reports should be given broader dissemination. However, in response to the GAO recommendation, the DOD IG will expand the discussion of the Navy IG inspection activity in its semiannual report to Congress beginning with the period ending September 30, 1995. DOD believes cognizant congressional committees will thereby be advised of significant Navy inspection findings.
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| Office of the Inspector General of the Army | The DOD Inspector General should perform, on a periodic basis, a comprehensive oversight review of the Navy statutory IG inspection activities. |
DOD partially concurs with the recommendation. DOD does not believe that the DOD IG should undertake greater oversight of the Military Department Inspectors General. DOD believes the IGs are subject to oversight by the Secretaries of the military departments, represent a very small segment of DOD, and have generally been accorded a lower priority in the allocation of DOD IG resources.
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Auditing standardsCost effectiveness analysisEmployee trainingInspectors generalInternal controlsInvestigations by federal agenciesNaval personnelNoncomplianceReporting requirementsGrievance procedures