While US citizens have always had disagreements about what policies are best, most people have historically trusted and respected the process we use to determine which policies prevail. Unfortunately, that trust has deteriorated in recent years. It has fallen even more in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, which will likely still be active as…
Posts by admin
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Maintaining Confidence in US Elections: A Tough Assignment
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Covid-19 Having Short- and Long-Term Impacts for Inspectors General
John F. Kennedy famously said that the Chinese word for crisis was composed of two characters, one meaning danger and the other meaning opportunity. The second character, however, has two meanings, and most modern translators think the second character would be better translated as “a changing point”. Either way, it’s a valid metaphor for what…
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Congressional Meeting with Afghanistan IG “Zoom-Bombed”
This week provided yet another demonstration of just how unprepared the federal government was to deal with the level of remote work that has been required by the COVID-19 outbreak. Congressman Jim Jordan revealed that a Congressionally-run oversight hearing with John Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction, was “zoom-bombed” three times. It’s not…
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Three Areas with Heightened Fraud Potential During COVID-19
Fraud multiplies when people are at their most desperate. COVID-19 has people understandably worried about their ability to provide for their families. Unfortunately, people are able to justify some pretty terrible behavior in their minds when they’re worried about their ability to provide for their families. One recent example: people who are short of cash…
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The Many Risks of Unexpected Remote Work for Government Agencies
Many agency employees are working remotely for the first time this week. It wasn’t by choice, of course; they have been left with little choice as mayors, governors and the President have issued requests and demands that people not congregate in large buildings unless it’s critical – and in many states, that means only grocery…
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The Health Crisis and the Fraud Triangle
Most government employees are honest people who are not primarily motivated by money. They’ve chosen to go into public service, receiving a lower salary than they would for a similar job in the private sector. Unfortunately, there are bad actors in the public sector. For those employees, crises like the one we’re currently experiencing present…
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Government Efficiency: Ideas from the “Experts”
Inspectors General are tasked with eliminating fraud, waste and abuse. Fraud is straightforward – there are plenty of regulations and laws that prevent fraudulent activity, and most employees profiting from their work far beyond their paycheck are guilty of at least a few of them. Abusive behavior is also generally well-understood, although there are some…
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Elections are Coming: Is Your Agency Prepared?
Of all the controversies government agencies would like to avoid, election interference is pretty high on the list. Citizens expect agency leadership to have a political agenda; that’s why they were put in place. But when the civil service seems to be backing one side or the other, that leads to no-win situations. The candidate…
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Biggest Government IT Risks
Whether you’re trying to improve the security posture of the agency you oversee or your own employees, technology is a point of concern for government investigative teams. That’s because it’s a major vulnerability for government agencies. There are plenty of reasons. Government agencies tend to have large amounts of data on their citizens or businesses…
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Three Ways Software Vendors Destroy Your Productivity
Every day, our software developers, implementers, and customer support teams come to work armed with new ideas to improve investigators’ productivity. One of the most frustrating stories we hear from investigative teams is that they’ve recently entered into a contract to procure case management software, and they can already tell that it’s going to be…
