MMR - FY20 - Department of Investigation

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• Parent Document:: Mayor's Management Report - Fiscal Year 2020
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    • DEPARTMENT OF
    • INVESTIGATION Margaret Garnett, Commissioner
    • DEPARTMENT OF INVESTIGATION | Page 93
    • WHAT WE DO
    • The Department of Investigation
    • (DOI) promotes and maintains
    • integrity and efficiency in City
    • government by investigating City
    • employees and contractors who
    • may be engaged in corrupt activities
    • or unethical conduct, and by
    • examining gross mismanagement
    • and abuse in City agencies and
    • entities. It has oversight of more
    • than 45 Mayoral agencies with
    • over 300,000 employees, as well
    • as dozens of City boards and
    • commissions. DOI’s strategy attacks
    • corruption comprehensively through
    • investigations that lead to high
    • impact arrests, public reports, and
    • recommended preventive internal
    • controls and operational reforms.
    • DOI’s work aims to prevent criminal
    • misconduct and waste, remove
    • corrupt public officials and ensure
    • wrongdoers are punished, and
    • improve the way City government
    • functions. DOI serves New Yorkers
    • by acting as an independent and
    • nonpartisan watchdog for City
    • government.
    • FOCUS ON EQUITY
    • DOI focuses on equitable service delivery by rooting out municipal corruption
    • through criminal investigations and examining systemic issues that undermine
    • good government and New Yorkers’ access to services. DOI works to improve
    • the integrity, effectiveness and credibility of City government by investigating
    • cases involving corruption, waste, fraud and inefficiency in City government and
    • issuing policy and procedure recommendations (PPRs) as necessary to mitigate
    • vulnerabilities. To that end, DOI reviews City agencies’ policies and procedures and
    • recommends concrete ways to strengthen internal controls so public dollars are
    • saved and operations improved. One example of this work in Fiscal 2020 is DOI’s
    • report exposing issues with the City’s Special One Time Assistance Program, and
    • related PPRs to improve the program. In addition, during this fiscal period, DOI
    • launched a new portal on its public website that provides access to more than
    • 4,500 PPRs the agency has issued since 2014, allowing users to view DOI’s PPRs,
    • the agencies they were issued to, and the PPR status.
    • DOI’s focus on equitable service delivery is also reflected in the Department’s arrests
    • and convictions in Fiscal 2020. These include the 4-to-12-year prison sentence
    • for each of three defendants convicted in the 2015 fatal gas explosion that killed
    • two individuals and led to the serious injury of 13 others; the trial conviction
    • of five City Correction Officers as a result of an investigation into illegal strip
    • searches of female visitors at the Manhattan Detention Complex; the indictment
    • of a construction company operator, foreperson and engineer for their roles in the
    • death of a laborer killed in a wall collapse where the investigation found workers’
    • safety and industry protocols were ignored; and the indictment of a business owner
    • assigned to work on public works projects in City public schools who was charged
    • with bilking employees out of more than $1.5 million in wages.
    • OUR SERVICES AND GOALS
    • SERVICE 1 Investigate possible corruption, fraud, waste and unethical
    • conduct in City government.
    • Goal 1a Maintain the integrity of City agencies, employees, contract vendors
    • and other recipients of City funds.
    • Goal 1b Improve the impact and effectiveness of investigations.
    • SERVICE 2 Conduct background and fingerprint checks for certain City
    • employees, contractors and day care workers.
    • Goal 2a Ensure that all background investigations and fingerprint checks are
    • conducted in a timely manner.
    • Page 94 | MAYOR’S MANAGEMENT REPORT
    • HOW WE PERFORMED IN FISCAL 2020
    • SERVICE 1 Investigate possible corruption, fraud, waste and unethical conduct in City government.
    • Goal 1a Maintain the integrity of City agencies, employees, contract vendors and other recipients of City funds.
    • DOI continued its focus on equitable service delivery when it closed its physical offices in March 2020 due to the COVID-19
    • pandemic. DOI continued to offer most agency services remotely. Overall some performance indicators are understandably
    • lower following the disruptions of COVID-19; however, DOI has continued to provide its vital services and in some cases
    • has expanded its role to meet the needs of the City. During the reporting period, complaints received by DOI decreased by
    • 20 percent compared to the same period last year. There was a 44 percent decrease in the number of complaints received
    • in the last quarter of the fiscal year compared to Fiscal Year 2019 and DOI attributes this to the impact of the COVID-19
    • pandemic. The Department is confident that moving forward its outreach strategies will result in continued public awareness
    • of the agency’s mission and the importance of reporting corruption to DOI.
    • The number of policy and procedure recommendations decreased by 66 percent. Of the 193 PPRs DOI issued during Fiscal
    • 2020, 59 percent have since been accepted, two percent have been rejected, and 38 percent are pending. This decrease
    • coincides with DOI’s focus on recommendations that are tailored to specific agencies (rather than recommendations that
    • had been issued citywide but did not necessarily apply to all City agencies), and a focus during the reporting period on the
    • implementation, rejection, pending and acceptance status of previously issued PPRs. During the latter half of the fiscal year,
    • DOI introduced a PPR Portal providing public access to all PPRs issued by DOI since 2014. The Portal provides the public
    • with a greater understanding of DOI’s PPRs, and up to date information on the status of the PPR, including whether the
    • receiving agency has accepted and implemented the PPR. The Portal can be accessed through DOI’s website.
    • The number of corruption prevention and whistleblower lectures conducted by DOI decreased by 29 percent. Similarly,
    • the number of e-learning anti-corruption lectures regularly deployed on-line to City agencies by DCAS, in partnership with
    • DOI, decreased by 20 percent. DOI attributes these decreases to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Department
    • suspended in person lectures during the pandemic, and technological issues and constraints associated with the shift to
    • telework contributed to the decrease.
    • DOI continues to supervise integrity monitors for various ongoing vendor operations, including at City projects. At the end
    • of Fiscal Year 2020, DOI had 12 active integrity monitoring agreements. The percentage of vendor name checks completed
    • within 30 days remained stable from last fiscal year. The Vendex unit continues its efforts to increase the percentage of
    • checks completed within 30 days. In response to emergency COVID-19 procurement needs citywide, DOI conducted
    • approximately 70 expedited Vendor Name Checks received directly from agencies. The Department has also been alerted
    • to numerous COVID-19 related fraud schemes including an attempt to exploit the City as it was trying to manage the
    • impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. DOI and the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York jointly
    • announced the arrest of an individual who allegedly attempted to deceive and price gouge the City into paying him and
    • his co-conspirators approximately $45 million for 3M-brand personal protective equipment, including N95 respirators that
    • he did not possess and was not authorized to sell. The individual has been charged with conspiring to commit wire fraud,
    • wire fraud and conspiring to violate the Defense Production Act.
    • DEPARTMENT OF INVESTIGATION | Page 95
    • Performance Indicators
    • Actual Target Trend
    • FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY20 FY21 5-Year
    • Desired
    • Direction
    • « Complaints 11,616 12,132 13,075 15,067 12,017 * * Up *
    • « Written policy and procedure recommendations (PPRs) issued
    • to City agencies 717 514 2,051 573 193 300 300 Down *
    • Written PPRs issued during previous fiscal years that have been
    • accepted by City agencies (%) 95% 94% 92% 82% 59% 75% 75% Down Up
    • Written PPRs issued during previous fiscal years that have been
    • implemented of those accepted by City agencies (%) 86% 88% 89% 74% 52% * * Down Up
    • Written PPRs issued during previous fiscal years that are still pending an outcome from City agencies (%) 1% 1% 6% 14% 38% * * Up *
    • Written PPRs issued during previous fiscal years that have been
    • rejected by City agencies (%) 5% 5% 3% 5% 2% * * Down *
    • « Corruption prevention and whistleblower lectures conducted 408 477 389 449 318 400 400 Down Up
    • Corruption prevention lecture e-learning attendees 15,298 18,561 25,068 33,539 26,725 * * Up *
    • Integrity monitoring agreements 16 18 15 13 12 * * Down *
    • Vendor name checks completed within 30 days (%) 95% 98% 64% 80% 80% 85% 85% Down Up
    • « Critical Indicator “NA” Not Available ñò Directional Target * None
    • Goal 1b Improve the impact and effectiveness of investigations.
    • DOI improves the impact and effectiveness of its investigations by conducting thorough investigations that lead to arrests
    • and recommendations that result in reforms and preventative controls that improve the way the City operates and delivers
    • services to all New Yorkers. The challenges associated with telework during the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with a focus
    • on large scale investigations and on building strong criminal cases, resulted in the average time to complete an investigation
    • increasing by 22 percent. Referrals for criminal prosecution increased by five percent during the period. While arrests were
    • up 15 percent for the first three quarters of the fiscal year, they dropped by 84 percent in the last quarter resulting in an
    • overall decrease by 11 percent. Referrals for civil and administrative action remained consistent. During the reporting
    • period there was an 11 percent decrease in ordered financial recoveries to the City. Such orders typically are entered at the
    • sentencing phase of a criminal case, and thus can be expected to lag investigations by several years. Revenues collected from
    • previously ordered financial recoveries in DOI cases increased four percent compared to Fiscal 2019. Although collection
    • ordered in DOI’s cases reflects revenues generated by DOI investigations, collection of these revenues is the responsibility
    • of the relevant prosecutor’s office.
    • Performance Indicators
    • Actual Target Trend
    • FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY20 FY21 5-Year
    • Desired
    • Direction
    • « Average time to complete an investigation (days) 145 152 152 179 218 180 180 Up Down
    • « Referrals for civil and administrative action 849 990 770 984 981 * * Up *
    • « Referrals for criminal prosecution 745 896 876 722 759 * * Neutral *
    • « Arrests resulting from DOI investigations 551 827 706 609 543 * * Down *
    • « Financial recoveries to the City ordered/agreed
    • ($000) $3,004 $4,069 $4,897 $2,874 $2,556 ñ ñ Down Up
    • « Financial recoveries to the City collected ($000) $5,095 $2,588 $3,374 $1,962 $2,044 ñ ñ Down Up
    • « Critical Indicator “NA” Not Available ñò Directional Target * None
    • Page 96 | MAYOR’S MANAGEMENT REPORT
    • SERVICE 2 Conduct background and fingerprint checks for certain City employees, contractors and day
    • care workers.
    • Goal 2a Ensure that all background investigations and fingerprint checks are conducted in a timely manner.
    • For background investigations received on or after July 1, 2019, and closed during the reporting period, 97 percent were
    • closed within six months or less, with an average time to complete of 88 days, well exceeding targeted projections for
    • both indicators. In Fiscal 2020, 1,880 backlogged background investigation requests received prior to July 1, 2019, were
    • completed or closed. Currently remaining open and in process of being completed are 4,599 backlogged investigations.
    • In accordance with social distancing guidelines set by the Mayor’s Office to protect the public and DOI employees, DOI
    • suspended in-person fingerprinting at the end of March 2020 and remained closed throughout the fiscal period. The
    • Department worked with City and State partners who oversee childcare services in New York and was able to transition
    • in-person fingerprinting to a private vendor in mid-June. This has enabled DOI to remotely process prospective childcare
    • worker fingerprint results as daycares begin to re-open in the City.
    • Performance Indicators
    • Actual Target Trend
    • FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY20 FY21 5-Year
    • Desired
    • Direction
    • « Average time to complete a background investigation (from
    • date of receipt) (days) NA NA NA NA 88 180 180 NA Down
    • « Background investigations received and closed within 6
    • months (%) NA NA NA NA 97% 80% 80% NA Up
    • Backlogged background investigations closed during the reporting period NA NA NA NA 1,880 * * NA *
    • Backlogged background investigations remaining open NA NA NA NA 4,599 * * NA *
    • « Time to notify agencies of prospective childcare, home care
    • and family care workers with criminal records after receipt from
    • State Division of Criminal Justice Services and FBI (days) 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 Neutral Down
    • Time to notify agencies of arrest notifications for current childcare, home care and family care workers after receipt from State
    • Division of Criminal Justice Services (days) 1 1 1 1 2 * * Up Down
    • « Critical Indicator “NA” Not Available ñò Directional Target * None
    • AGENCY CUSTOMER SERVICE
    • Performance Indicators Actual Target Trend
    • Customer Experience FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY20 FY21 5-Year
    • Desired
    • Direction
    • Letters responded to in 14 days (%) 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% * * Neutral Up
    • E-mails responded to in 14 days (%) 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% * * Neutral Up
    • Average wait time to speak with a customer service agent (minutes) 3 3 3 3 3 * * Neutral Down
    • CORE facility rating 98 100 100 100 100 * * Neutral Up
    • Completed requests for interpretation 26 23 16 22 5 * * Down *
    • « Critical Indicator “NA” Not Available ñò Directional Target * None
    • AGENCY RESOURCES
    • Resource Indicators Actual¹ Plan²
    • FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY20 FY21 5yr Trend
    • Expenditures ($000,000)³ $38.4 $45.3 $42.0 $49.1 $60.9 $61.6 $52.8 Up
    • Revenues ($000,000) $3.2 $3.2 $3.2 $3.2 $2.6 $3.8 $2.8 Down
    • Personnel 321 353 366 355 362 410 372 Up
    • Overtime paid ($000) $754 $1,047 $1,143 $966 $607 $490 $105 Down
    • ¹Actual financial amounts for the current fiscal year are not yet final. Final fiscal year actuals, from the Comptroller’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, will be reported
    • in the next PMMR. Refer to the “Indicator Definitions” at nyc.gov/mmr for details. ²Authorized Budget Level ³Expenditures include all funds
    • “NA” - Not Available * None
    • DEPARTMENT OF INVESTIGATION | Page 97
    • SPENDING AND BUDGET INFORMATION
    • Where possible, the relationship between an agency’s goals and its expenditures and planned resources, by budgetary unit
    • of appropriation (UA), is shown in the ‘Applicable MMR Goals’ column. Each relationship is not necessarily exhaustive or
    • exclusive. Any one goal may be connected to multiple UAs, and any UA may be connected to multiple goals.
    • Unit of Appropriation
    • Expenditures
    • FY191
    • ($000,000)
    • Modified Budget
    • FY202
    • ($000,000) Applicable MMR Goals3
    • Personal Services - Total $30.4 $31.6
      • 001 - Personal Services $25.0 $25.8 All
      • 003 - Inspector General $5.4 $5.8 All
    • Other Than Personal Services - Total $18.8 $29.4
      • 002 - Other Than Personal Services $17.7 $27.7 All
      • 004 - Inspector General $1.0 $1.7 All
    • Agency Total $49.1 $60.9
    • 1
    • Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for the Fiscal Year ended June 30, 2019. Includes all funds. 2
    • City of New York Adopted Budget for Fiscal 2020, as of June
    • 2020. Includes all funds. 3Refer to agency goals listed at front of chapter. “NA” Not Available * None
    • NOTEWORTHY CHANGES, ADDITIONS OR DELETIONS !
    • • The Department revised Fiscal 2016, Fiscal 2017, Fiscal 2018, and Fiscal 2019 values for ‘written policy and procedure
    • recommendations issued,’ ‘written PPRs accepted,’ ‘written PPRs implemented,’ ‘written PPRs pending,’ and ‘written
    • PPRs rejected,’ to reflect updated data.
    • • The Department revised Fiscal 2019 values for ‘complaints,’ ‘referrals for civil and administrative action,’ ‘referrals for
    • criminal prosecution,’ and ‘arrests resulting from DOI investigations,’ to reflect updated data.
    • ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
    • For more information on the agency, please visit: www.nyc.gov/doi.
    • Page 98 | MAYOR’S MANAGEMENT REPORT