John Scott recently released his first Annual Report for the Broward Office Of The Inspector General. In the 2011-2012 Annual Report the Broward County, Florida Office “successfully established the key operational components of a new organization: recruiting, hiring, and training a professional staff.”
You may view the full Annual Report at http://www.broward.org/InspectorGeneral/Documents/OIGANNUALREPORT2011-2012.pdf
An article written by Brittany Wallman of the Sun Sentinel summarizes. He oversees 174 elected officials and 47,000 registered vendors. His office received 280 tips of government misconduct or wrongdoing in the past year. He’s Broward’s first inspector general.
In his first annual report, Inspector General John Scott gave an accounting of the first investigative year for Broward’s newest criminal justice agency. Created in tough times, the new law enforcement branch of county government costs taxpayers $1.9 million.
Scott called it a success, saying the office answered voters’ call for an independent agency to watch out for government corruption, waste, fraud and mismanagement.
“We’ve done what we hoped to do,” Scott said, citing investigations that revealed abuse of government programs, mismanagement of $3.6 million in public funds, and mishandling of at least 3,600 pills at the Medical Examiner’s Office, including more than 2,250 pain pills. “Our residents decided they wanted an independent watchdog. That’s what we are.”
The office was established by voters two years ago, along with a historic Code of Ethics that the inspector general’s office enforces. The office received just five sworn ethics-code related complaints in the past year, Scott said, and 27 less formal tips, but investigations are under way and a new employee will be hired to “to provide a greater emphasis on ethics-related matters.”
Scott also announced in his report that agencies with criminal prosecution powers are “considering bringing criminal charges against several persons” as a result of investigations by the inspector general’s office. Those cases, he said, will reveal “millions of dollars in questionable governmental costs and expenditures.”
The county has a new “Report a Complaint” link on its homepage at http://www.broward.org, making it easier to connect with Scott’s office. You may view the original article at http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2012-10-16/news/fl-inspector-general-performance-20121016_1_inspector-general-john-scott-first-inspector-pain-pills
