Updated FBI Response to the Department of Justice,
Office of Inspector General’s findings in
the matter of the Tiffany globe and other items
taken from World Trade Center recovery sites
Washington, D.C. -- With the FBI's full cooperation,
the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector
General (IG) investigated an allegation related
to the removal by an FBI Agent of a Tiffany globe
from a World Trade Center recovery site. The IG
also looked at other instances where items were
removed from the site by FBI Agents.
The FBI commends the IG for an extensive and thorough
review of the issues present in this matter, and
welcomes the IG's recommendation to establish a
formal policy to guide employees in the future.
While the removal of evidence or personal effects
from an official site is never permissible, the
FBI did not have an established policy that applied
to items determined not to be evidentiary in nature,
of forensics value, or identified as a personal
item belonging to a particular person. Following
the IG’s recommendations, the FBI established
a policy for evidence recovery personnel that is
being broadened to cover all employees and will
be fully implemented in the very near future. The
policy calls for much greater management oversight
and provides FBI employees with clear instructions
on the removal of non-evidentiary items from a recovery
site for any purpose. It effectively prohibits the
removal of any items by personnel at a site.
Concerning World Trade Center recovery sites, where
more than 400 FBI Agents joined thousands of local,
state and federal officers in an effort to process
nearly two million tons of debris, the IG reported
on a number of Agents who had removed debris and
other items, apparently as a lasting remembrance
of this fearful, historic crime scene. The IG cited
misconduct on the part of two employees and recommended
discipline. Those cases and others are under review
by the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility
(OPR).
In a further effort to improve accountability, the
FBI is undertaking a significant overhaul of its
disciplinary system. In May 2003, Director Robert
S. Mueller, III asked former Attorney General Griffin
Bell and Dr. Lee Colwell to conduct an independent
study of the OPR and its processes. The study was
completed on February 27, 2004, and a report a submitted
with a series of recommendations for improving the
FBI’s disciplinary system. The Director welcomed
the recommendations and announced that he will assign
an Inspector in Charge to oversee the implementation
of each major recommendation to ensure that swift
progress is made towards implementing the improvements
suggested by the study.
Among the recommendations that the FBI will soon
implement, are the development of more clearly defined
offenses and penalties, a new management structure,
and new technology, to improve the transparency,
speed, and fairness of the disciplinary process.
The full report and the FBI’s response are
available at www.fbi.gov.
We would like to express our sympathy for the families
of World Trade Center victims whose grief may be
compounded by the report of this misconduct. The
nearly 28,000 dedicated men and women of the FBI
are committed to the highest standards of professional
conduct. Even the perception of anything less is
not acceptable and is a disservice to the American
public.
