Customs told to improve employee investigations

On the third and final day of hearings this month into Customs Service operations, the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday urged the agency to improve internal investigations of employee wrongdoing and corruption.

According to a Finance Committee analysis of Customs statistics, allegations of employee wrongdoing increased threefold in a recent three-year period, rising from 209 internal affairs cases in 1996 to 677 cases in 1998. Allegations ranged from bribery to equal employment opportunity violations to drug trafficking.

But Treasury Department investigations into the way Customs handles internal allegations found weak management of cases and low employee confidence in the fairness of management reviews.

"Customs' inability to equitably administer discipline fosters the perception of favoritism," said Michael C. Tarr, the Treasury Department's acting assistant inspector general for investigations. "Investigations failed to comply with proper reporting requirements, lacked thoroughness, timeliness, and did not receive quality management review."

In February, Customs Commissioner Raymond Kelly appointed a new assistant commissioner, William A. Keefer, to head the agency's Office of Internal Affairs. Keefer told the committee he is shaping up the office.

"We may not have always done a good job in responding to allegations of misconduct. That has changed," Keefer said, stressing that misconduct is relatively infrequent in the 19,000-employee agency. "Every internal and external review of Customs has concluded that no systemic corruption exists within the agency."

Keefer, acknowledging that "options for reporting misconduct were diverse and often confusing," said all misconduct allegations are now being filed with the internal affairs office. Allegations are processed and tracked under uniform procedures, including a new automated case management system that is the "key to ensuring accountability on all levels," Keefer said.

Investigations by both the Treasury Department inspector general and the department's Office of Professional Responsibility criticized Customs' internal affairs operations. Their reviews found Customs did not do enough to prevent and detect corruption, there were no published directives for management reviews of allegations, and employees feared retaliation for reporting wrongdoing to the internal affairs office.

"We found that awards and promotions were issued to employees who were subjects of internal affairs investigations. This is a direct violation of Customs policy," Tarr said.

Finance Committee Chairman William Roth, R-Del., said the committee will continue to monitor improvements to Customs' internal affairs investigations.

"While Commissioner Kelly has taken important first steps to address these concerns, the question remains whether Customs has the necessary internal mechanisms in place to sustain his proposed reforms," Roth said.

The committee's three days of hearings, held May 13, 18 and 25, resulted in far less fanfare than the committee's two rounds of oversight hearings into IRS operations in 1997 and 1998. Those hearings led to last year's sweeping IRS restructuring and reform bill.

The Customs Service, on the other hand, will walk away from the committee's hearings with a commitment from lawmakers for $300 million toward a new $1.4 billion computer system to keep up with the booming growth of international trade. The House on Tuesday approved legislation that includes $400 million for Customs above the Clinton administration's budget request.