Trained to inspire.

Inspector General

by Nancy Savage (1977-2010)

In general, an Inspector General leads organizations charged with examining the actions of government agencies, including the military branches, government contractors and public officials. IGs ensure governmental entities are operating in compliance with generally established policies of the government. IGs audit the effectiveness of security procedures and are empowered to detect and prevent misconduct, waste, fraud, theft and prosecute criminal activity by individuals or groups related to the agency’s operations, usually involving some misuse of the organization’s funds. Each IG is responsible for conducting audits and investigations relating to the programs and operations of its agency. Additionally, IGs provide leadership and coordination and recommend policies for activities designed to promote economy, efficiency and effectiveness, thus identifying weaknesses that lead to fraud and abuse in agency programs and operations. Historically, IGs have been around as early as the George Washington era.

The Inspector General Act of 1978 statutorily established the Federal Inspectors General (IG) as independent and objective units within most agencies whose duties are to combat waste, fraud, and abuse in the programs and operations of their respective agencies. Twelve offices were initially statutorily created with this Act, but the number has now grown to more than 70 federal offices. The Act was amended in 2008 — increasing pay and powers. While the offices are independent, they share information through the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency and conduct common training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC). Most IG Agents now have law enforcement authority to carry firearms, make arrests and execute search warrants either through a variety of mechanisms to include presidential appointment and deputation. However, there are still some IGs who use only administrative investigators, auditors and inspectors.

Since 1978, numerous offices of the Inspector General have been established at the federal level. But more importantly, IG offices, established under similar enabling legislation, have proliferated at state and local levels. So, if you are seeking a career in the IG field, be open to careers at all levels of government. The Association of Inspector Generals (AIG) was established in 1996 by a group of state, local and federal Inspector Generals and academics who recognized a need for an umbrella group to represent the entire community of IGs and to establish standards and best practices for IG offices. This group holds three events each year and is headquartered at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in NY, NY. Most importantly, it offers professional certification courses to IGs, investigators and auditors. The website for the AIG is www. inspectorsgeneral.org. The AIG provides an excellent tool to locate job opportunities in the IG community.

IG offices look for a variety of different and specific skills when hiring. Those with a financial background are often highly sought after, but there are other skills, especially in management and administration of the IG offices, that are very valuable as well. Listed here are some of the more common skill sets: Urban planning, Accounting (CPA), Certified Fraud Examiner, Procurement, Auditing, Contracting, Budget Analyst, Forensic Accountant, White Collar Crime, Business, Legal, Engineering and General Criminal.

Some of our members, who followed the IG path after the Bureau have shared their experiences.

Larry Fann (1963-1989)
Forfeiture Counsel for USPS-OIG

After 25 years as an FBI Agent, I transferred to DOJ where I retired in 1992. For many years after that I was a trial attorney handling civil legal cases for indigent clients. In June of 2013, I became aware that the USPS-OIG was setting up a forfeiture program. At the FBI, I was the first legal counsel for the forfeiture program and at DOJ, I was head of their forfeiture unit for a period of time.

I was hired by USPS-OIG as forfeiture counsel. Its culture is similar to the FBI’s, and it has been a real pleasure working for them. Just like the FBI, there is a real effort to do things right by adhering to the law and policy; and not taking shortcuts or shading the truth.

From my experience, I would advise former Special Agents to pay attention to the Society’s website – that’s how I found out about my job. This unique job opened up and I just happened to have the experience they were looking for. When I was going in for my interview, my wife told me to be sure to tell them my age because she wanted me to retire. (I was 75.) I told them my age, but they called me a few days later anyway to offer me the job. Next to the Bureau, “they’re it.”

Christine M. Jung (1973-1995)
Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Investigations for the
U.S. Department of Agriculture

After 3 years in the U.S. Marine Corps and 23 years with the FBI, I wasn’t ready to retire from the government, but needed a change…and a challenge. At the time, I was in the SES and had been the Administrator of the Executive Development and Selection Program (Career Development Program) for over two years. Roger Viadero, the Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (and an FBI Agent who had taken a leave of absence from the Bureau to accept this Presidential Appointment) advised me that he had an SES vacancy for a Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Investigations. The position entailed the management of all OIG Special Agents in three regional offices and 18 sub-offices who investigated criminal violations of USDA programs in 25 states, the territory of Guam and the Trust Territories of Pacific. I applied and my application was accepted. I took a transfer from the Bureau to the IG’s office in 1995 and served in that position until I retired from the government on July 25, 2001.

The IG Offices are divided into Investigations and Audits and are, of course, supported by administrative staff. Although each can vary widely in size and scope, depending on the Agency, they all are dedicated to rooting out waste, fraud and abuse within the programs of their respective agencies. OIG Agriculture conducts audits and investigations to ensure, or restore, integrity in the numerous USDA benefits and entitlement programs, including a variety of programs that provide payments directly and indirectly to individuals or entities. Some are among the largest in government. In 2015, SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program), alone, accounts for approximately $82 billion in benefits today…or approximately 52% of the entire USDA’s current budget, while $20 billion was earmarked for USDA farm programs. As can be imagined, these massive programs are magnets for fraud. Additionally, other programs have been effectively utilized to assist The School Lunch Program. As an example, the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) purchases a variety of domestically produced and processed commodity food products, through a competitive process among approved vendors. These purchase activities support American agriculture by providing an outlet for surplus products and encouraging domestic consumption of domestic foods. Although the vast majority of our vendors sell wholesome products for this important program, OIG has identified numerous instances wherein a vendor tries to sell rancid products or slights the requirements for an item, such as an individual pizza for a child’s lunch. Shortchanging a single serve pizza by a half ounce of cheese or meat might seem small, but magnified over a million frozen pizzas shortchanges children’s nutrition and robs the federal government. These are but a few of the many critical programs the USDA’s Office of OIG is responsible for auditing and investigating.

All of the OIG Special Agents are trained at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in South Carolina. As we all know, FLETC trains all federal law enforcement officers with the exception of the FBI and DEA. All incoming trainees are selected by their respective agency and sent to FLETC. When they arrive, they are all assigned to the Criminal Investigative Training Program classes irrespective of their agency; training together for a period of two months. Upon successful completion of the initial training, they then receive additional training taught by their respective agency prior to their field assignments. During my almost six years with OIG, I visited FLETC often and had the honor of speaking to two very proud graduating classes comprised of Ag OIG, Secret Service, Border Patrol, U.S. Marshals and other agency Special Agents. Having previously taught Firearms and Arrest Techniques at the FBI Academy, I was very impressed with FLETC’s interagency culture and training and was proud of the professionalism that I saw in all of the Agriculture OIG Special Agents with whom I worked over the years. My position allowed me the opportunity to travel to areas of the U.S. that I had never been, supervise and work with a remarkable group of Special Agents and accountants and assist the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Justice ferret out and prosecute those who would steal from a myriad of programs designed to assist our farmers and feed those less fortunate with the most need.

Today’s Agriculture OIG has a full-time Special Agent assigned to the JTTF and has Agents assigned to the Joint Agroterrorism Working Group, the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force and many other interagency task forces.

I encourage those of you who might be ready to retire, to consider a second career with any OIG office. It will enable you to bring your valuable work experience with you and to continue your law enforcement career with a fresh perspective. And you will working closely with your Agency and IG staff to ensure that their programs are performing as designed … by identifying waste, fraud and abuse.

John F. McAuliffe (1971-1993)
Inspector General — Texas Department of Criminal Justice
(TDCJ) 1999-2001

As a Special Agent and Supervisor in the FBI, I was blessed with a perfect foundation to further a public service and law enforcement career with the TDCJ. TDCJ is the largest state agency in Texas with responsibility for the State Prison System as well as Adult Parole and some aspects of Adult Probation.

The supervisory part of my Bureau career which concluded in Houston included 10 years of criminal programs involving Civil Rights, Violent and Property Crimes as well as Resident Agency management and inspections. This experience proved crucial in being selected as the IAD Director and then the first Inspector General of TDCJ .The Texas prison system is the second largest in the U.S. and encompasses about 114 prisons with 145,000 inmates. Overall, TDCJ employs over 42,000 personnel. The initial challenges were immense and focused on development of a professional law enforcement staff with oversight over both criminal and administrative violations within the agency statewide. The Office of Inspector General (OIG) was a relatively new concept in the late 1990’s and the transition had to be made from the image of Internal Affairs jurisdiction to the Inspector General nameplate, although in TDJC the jurisdiction was virtually the same. The IAD as well as the successor OIG reports to the nine-member Texas Board of Criminal Justice appointed by the Governor, which oversees the agency and establishes the vital independence required for an effective IG.

The IG position requires the myriad of liaisons such as other state and federal law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, Civil Rights, media, legislature offices and networking with other OIG’s. The organization must establish professional trust with the wardens and staff of this vast and complex agency. This simply could not have been accomplished without the career FBI experiences. Huge challenges such as the Vita Pro contract scandal, death row escape and the notorious Texas “7” escape were thrust upon the IAD/OIG during my tenure.

The best advice to recommend this avenue of service is to accept the benefit of a role model mentor and then be one yourself to further the pride of professional development of an independent organization that is so important to public safety. In addition, more detailed information regarding both TDCJ and the OIG can be found on their respective websites.

Phyllis Sciacca (1974-2003)
Headquarters Supervisor Amtrack Office of the Inspector General

The Amtrak Office of Inspector General (OIG) was looking to obtain Statutory Law Enforcement Authority. They were interested in hiring agents that would bring the investigators in line with DOJ requirements. When I retired from the FBI, I was recruited to join Amtrak’s OIG by an Agent whom my squad had worked with on a joint case. Having worked white collar crime most of my career, the only training I needed pertained to the intricacies of Amtrak, so I hit the ground running. Amtrak is a private corporation (even though the stock is wholly owned by the U.S. Government) so there was no penalty to my pension. Initially, I worked cases as a Special Agent. Once the OIG got retired Agents from other OIGs on board, the push began to obtain Statutory Law Enforcement Authority. I became a Headquarters Supervisor or Desk Officer as it’s called in the OIG world. Evidence rooms were built and policies and procedures were established based on DOJ requirements. We passed a peer review and obtained Statutory Law Enforcement Authority. Currently all Investigative Activity is recorded on 302s (sound familiar?) and there is a Case Management System to handle all the cases. Many policies and procedures are similar to the Bureau’s requirements as well as other federal OIG policies. I recently retired after 12 years with the Amtrak OIG. It was a great second career.

Randolph M. West, III (1970-1978)
Assistant Inspector General at NASA and
Assistant Inspector General at the Commerce Department

In 1957, an FBI Agent came to speak at Coronado High School and from that moment on, I knew I’d be a Bureau Agent someday. One evening in San Diego after flying missions over North Vietnam, I was watching The FBI (TV series) with my wife. She encouraged me to write Mr. Hoover. I did and was soon in NAC 7 in November of 1970. I loved the Bureau, serving in the Dallas and Denver Offices and shooting a “Possible” in 1972. BUT... I was a 10/1/69 agent and looking at a NYC transfer.

As a result of looking for an alternative, I was recruited to be the Director of the Office of Inspector General at the Kennedy Space Center (GM-15 w/8336 retirement) by Brian Hyland, Assistant Inspector General at NASA. Mr. Hyland had been on the Inspections Staff and was a Super Grade senior Bureau Agent, but left for a new career in the newly formed Senior Executive Service and Inspectors General which were created by Congress in numerous Departments and Agencies. Four-and-a-half years later I too was an Assistant Inspector General at the Commerce Department (SES-4). Two years after that when the Department of State received a statutory Inspector General, I became the Assistant Inspector General at State. I traveled the world and met many interesting personalities.

I have always been extremely proud to be a Bureau Agent, but fate took me in another direction. My advice: First, you have to make your own breaks. I’d probably have retired in the Denver Division if it hadn’t been for the Bureau’s 10/1/69 Program. Second, stay active. I’m a Docent on the USS Midway and active in the San Diego chapter of the Society. I also enjoy fishing, golf and babysitting my grandkids.