FBI Struggles With Laptop and Gun Losses
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is struggling in-house to prevent its own guns and laptops from getting stolen or lost, according to the Justice Department's inspector general.
In a report issued today documenting the FBI's efforts, Inspector General Glenn Fine said that "significant deficiencies still remain" in the bureau's inventory and tracking system since he last did an audit in 2002. Fine says the FBI "has made progress" in "decreasing the rate of loss" for weapons and laptops. The bureau has an inventory of more than 52,000 weapons and 26,000 laptops. During a 44-month period from 2002 through 2005, Fine said, the bureau reported 320 lost or stolen weapons and stolen laptops.
The previous audit showed 354 weapons and 217 laptops lost or stolen during a 28-month period. Fine found that at least 10 of the 160 missing laptops had sensitive or classified information, and one contained personal identifying information on FBI personnel. The FBI told the IG that it couldn't figure out in 51 other instances whether lost or stolen laptops had sensitive or classified information.
More worrisome, said Fine, was the fact that seven of the 51 missing laptops were assigned to agents in the Counterintelligence or Counterterrorism divisions, which handle some of the most sensitive spy and terrorism investigations.
"Without knowing the content of these lost or stolen laptops," the IG's office said, "it is impossible for the FBI to determine the extent of the damage these losses might have had on its operations and national security." The inspector general also said that the bureau had "improved its controls" by setting up deadlines for reporting missing items, entering them into a criminal justice database, and triggering investigations.
But the FBI did not "consistently" follow its own protocols, Fine said.
Finally, the FBI has failed to properly document whether laptops and hard drives that are being disposed of have been erased of sensitive data prior to dumping them, nor did it consistently make sure that FBI employees who quit the bureau turn in their guns and computers before they exit.
The FBI says that Fine made some incorrect inferences and that some of the missing items predated the audit but that it is going to accept the IG's recommendations.
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