The head of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center announced her retirment amid whistle-blower reports of misconduct, wasteful spending and improper travel at the facility on the Georgia Coast.
A congressional oversight committee is urging the inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security to expedite an ongoing investigation. A letter co-signed by the chairs of House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs notes that whistle-blowers who had reported problems with the training facility near Brunswick feared the inspector general was not investigating.
Those allegations include officials flying first class and staying in luxury hotels on the taxpayer dime.
The committee asked for briefings and certain records. Less than a month later, director Connie Patrick, 62, announced she was retiring — “with mixed emotions” — the post she had held for 15 years. She did not address the reasons for her departure at this time.
“I will miss your enthusiasm for molding the next generation of law enforcement and your passion for serving your nation. While this is a bittersweet time for me, I know I am leaving this organization in good hands,” Patrick wrote.
On the same day, last Friday, John Kelly, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, sent an email to agency employees also announcing Patrick’s retirement. Deputy director William Fallon will take over as acting director.
Patrick’s retirement is effective June 30. A spokeswoman said Patrick would “remain fully engaged” with the center until then.
Patrick did not return a message left on her cell phone. The training center also did not respond to questions on Tuesday but called Wednesday to stress that Patrick had retired but had not left the post.
The facility the Glynco U.S. Naval Air Station trains law enforcement officers from more than 90 federal agencies in investigations and procedures. Inspectors general for the various federal agencies are trained at the FLETC, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security.
In past years, there have been complaints that the Office of the Inspector General has been too cozy with the Department of Homeland Security and, consequently, has moved slowly and gone easy on those agencies when called to investigate allegations of waste and corruption.
Messages left with the OIG for Homeland Security were not returned Tuesday.
U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin and chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a Republican from Utah and chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, asked the inspector general for a list of complaints concerning the center that were left on the agency's hotline as well as all close reports concerning FLETC.
“The Committee is following the IG’s investigation and we look forward to reviewing his final report,” a spokesperson in Johnson’s office said when asked the status of the committee’s work.
“We are aware of several allegations of misconduct involving senior leadership at FLETC’s headquarters facility in Glynco, Georgia,” Johnson and Chaffetz wrote. “The allegations include wasteful spending, noncompliance with procedures, improper travel and prohibited personnel practices. It is our understanding that many of these allegations have been referred to your office. Whistle-blowers have expressed concern to us regarding the OIG’s responsiveness to these allegations.”
There have been allegations that hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent on monuments, "memorial" benches, landscaping and renovations that were not necessarily needed at a time of budget constraints. Some whistle-blowers complained that center leaders circumvented DHS's online travel system so they could fly first class and also stay at hotels that exceeded the government per diem and then get reimbursed for those expenses. The whistle-blowers also reported FLETC officials driving government vehicles for personal reasons.
"The success of FLETC is vital to the administration's plan to hire additional law enforcement officers to secure our borders," Johnson and Chaffetz wrote in a letter obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "In order to assist the committees' oversight and further our understanding of the allegations concerning FLETC and the OIG's work on these allegations, we respectfully request a briefing on these matters as soon as possible. We ask that this briefing cover the full scope of the OIG's work on these allegations and their current status."
The letter was sent to IG John Roth, whom President Barack Obama appointed in 2013. He followed acting IG Charles Edwards who resigned amid allegations of abuses, including withholding documents, misspending and nepotism. Edwards was seeking Obama’s nomination to hold the job permanently when he resigned.
In 2014, the year after Edwards resigned, the Senate Homeland Security and Government Operations, released a report that OIG for Homeland Security had altered and delayed investigations at the request of senior administration officials.
According to the report, Edwards regularly had drinks and dinner with top Homeland Security officials and would pass along inside information about when investigations would be released and what the watchdog agency had found.
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