As some wiseguy Senator once said, "Can the FBI find the floor if they fall to it?":
FBI, INS, Other Agencies Report 775 Missing Weapons
Updated 11:51 AM ET August 5, 2002
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI, the Immigration and Naturalization Service and other U.S. Justice Department law enforcement agencies had at least 775 weapons and 400 laptop computers stolen, lost or missing over a recent two-year period, according to a report released on Monday.
The department's inspector general report found substantial losses of weapons and laptops, mainly at the FBI, the nation's top law enforcement agency -- and at the trouble-plagued immigration agency.
"Our audits found significant deficiencies in the accountability for sensitive department property," Inspector General Glenn Fine said in a statement.
He said the agencies must improve their management controls over property like weapons and laptop computers, and urged the Justice Department to take a more active oversight role to tighten controls that are weak, inadequate or not fully implemented.
The FBI's problems with stolen, missing or lost laptop computers and weapons first surfaced in July last year, adding to a string a blunders that included misplaced files in the case of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and the discovery of a longtime Russian spy within the FBI's ranks.
The report said the INS had 539 missing weapons, while the FBI had 212 missing weapons in the two-year audit period. The FBI had an additional 211 weapons reported missing during a time period not covered by the audit.
Local police recovered at least 18 of the missing weapons in connection with investigations into such crimes as robberies and drug dealing, according to the report.
Investigators were unable to determine the type of information stored on the 400 missing computers, but said some of the computers could have been used to store sensitive law enforcement information that could have jeopardized investigations if divulged. |
