Almost three years after a presidential visit to Colombia resulted in federal agencies disciplining agents for hard-partying, a government watchdog says one department still doesn’t have policies in place to prevent future shenanigans abroad.
The Department of Justice “lacks Department-wide policies and training requirements that address off-duty conduct, whether in the United States or foreign countries,” according to DOJ’s inspector general in a report released on Thursday.
The investigation into department policies regarding off-duty conduct overseas was prompted following April 2012 incidents in Cartagena. Although off-duty, Secret Service agents and Department of Defense officials engaged in what the federal government said was inappropriate behavior. The probe also implicated three DEA agents on permanent assignment in the city for cavorting with sex workers.
The IG pointed out that this is not the first time the department has failed to address off-duty behavior it deems problematic. In the past, the partying, too, was far more sinister. In 1996, news broke that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms hosted what they called “Good O’ Boy Roundups” in Southern Tennessee, featuring copious booze consumption, strippers, and tinges of white supremacy.
Those actions resulted in then-Attorney General Janet Reno issuing a memo to DOJ managers to make sure their employees avoided behavior off-duty that could have a negative impact on their job performance.
But, as the IG notes in this most recent report, “we found no indication that DOJ had revisited its off-duty conduct policies or training in any comprehensive manner since then.”
The report covered policies at five DOJ offices, including the Criminal Division, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the ATF , the FBI, and the US Marshals Service. The IG found that these agencies “convey little or no information about off-duty conduct before sending their employees abroad” – a deficiency that could potentially lead to an international incident.
“Much of the policy and training that was provided did not clearly communicate what employees can and cannot do off duty,” the report adds.
It noted that the FBI had done the most to prepare its employees to make decisions that “reflect well on themselves and the FBI.”
The DEA, on the other hand, provided the least training to its employees. The agency failed to even “formally remind its employees after the Cartagena incident of the need to adhere to professional standards of behavior, even though DEA agents were involved.”
Out of all the branches of the Justice Department, the DEA, with its draconian far-reaching Drug War responsibilities, has the largest contingency of overseas employees, with 833 agents all around the world. Altogether, the agencies reviewed boast an international presence of 1,240 personnel.
The IG recommended that the DOJ develop a department-wide policy regarding off-duty conduct, and offer pre-deployment training to agents before being sent overseas. The DOJ responded that is in the process of resolving most of the issues addressed by the inspector general.
The Justice Department, however, also has issues managing behavior of its officials stateside, in a much more troubling and systematic manner. Last December, The Sentinel documented a Government Accountability Office report that blamed the department for not punishing attorneys found to have been engaging in wrongdoing.
You can read the full report DOJ IG report on off-duty behavior by overseas agents here.
