Federal Bureau of Investigation's Foreign Language Translation Program Follow-Up

Audit Report 05-33
July 2005
Office of the Inspector General

The success of the FBI’s foreign language translation efforts is critical to its national security mission. In our July 2004 audit, the OIG found several important areas in the FBI’s foreign language program that needed improvement. We believe that since issuance of the July 2004 report the FBI has taken significant steps to address many of our recommendations and has made progress in improving the operations of the Foreign Language Program. However, key deficiencies remain, including a continuing amount of unreviewed material, instances where “high priority” material has not been reviewed within 24 hours, and continued challenges in meeting linguist hiring goals and target staffing levels.