Summary: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Defense (DOD) Office of the Inspector General's (OIG) hotline operations, focusing on: (1) OIG procedures for referring hotline allegations to DOD components; (2) the number of referrals in 1990 and 1991; (3) the qualifications and training of the OIG investigators; and (4) the completeness of OIG investigations.
GAO found that: (1) from 1990 through 1991, OIG referred 3,600 hotline allegations to other DOD components for action; (2) the hotline staff screens allegations and refers them to the respective DOD components which are responsible for final case disposition and reporting back to the hotline on final disposition; (3) OIG has established a hotline advisory group to review allegations involving senior-level DOD military and civilian officials and sensitive matters; (4) OIG unit investigators are trained and qualified to conduct administrative investigations; and (5) the investigative units have followed, in general, established investigative policies and procedures, however, in half of the cases reviewed, the investigators did not write a required investigative plan.
