The Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (OIG) announced today the release of a report on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Critical Incident Response Group (CIRG) Tactical Section’s procurements. The OIG conducted this audit in response to an allegation regarding potentially excessive or unnecessary procurements and training exercises associated with CIRG, and in particular, the CIRG Tactical Section’s Hostage Rescue Team (HRT), the unit responsible for training, readiness, and deployment to incidents involving terrorism, violent crimes, and other complex threats.
The OIG found that the CIRG Tactical Section generally implemented adequate internal controls over the needs, uses, and safeguards of its procurements during fiscal years (FY) 2013 and 2014. During this time, CIRG and its Tactical Section transitioned to the Unified Financial Management System (UFMS), and new leadership enhanced CIRG’s oversight of procurements. These changes resulted in more robust financial control procedures and management controls, such as better justifications for requested items, limits on the methods available to procure items, and improved inventory controls.
The OIG’s audit did not identify instances of unjustifiable or unreasonable procurements, nor did it find evidence to substantiate specific allegations regarding improper CIRG procurements or training exercises. Rather, based on the OIG’s work, it appeared that the CIRG Tactical Section used the items it procured to a reasonable extent given its mission. The OIG also found that CIRG generally demonstrated adequate safeguards over procured items, although the OIG did identify a few instances where Tactical Section personnel could have better documented purchase order justifications.
The OIG made one recommendation to help the CIRG Tactical Section improve its procurement documentation. The FBI concurred with the recommendation.
The report can be found on the OIG’s website at the following link: https://oig.justice.gov/reports/2015/a1530.pdf.