The New York City Department of Investigation (“DOI”) is one of the oldest law-enforcement agencies in the country and an international leader in the effort to combat corruption in public institutions. It serves the Mayor and the people of New York City by acting as an independent and nonpartisan watchdog for New York City government.

DOI’s major functions include investigating and referring for prosecution cases of fraud, corruption and unethical conduct by City employees, contractors and others who receive City money. We are also charged with studying agency procedures to identify corruption hazards and recommending improvements in order to reduce the City’s vulnerability to fraud, waste and corruption. We investigate backgrounds of persons selected to work in decision-making or sensitive City jobs, and VENDEX those who do business with the City, to determine if they are suited to serve the public trust.

The enormous range of this docket means that DOI handles at any one time hundreds of complaints. Every week, in fact, almost every day, the agency’s work is punctuated by in-coming matters including “911” type situations that require the immediate high level of attention of a cadre of top flight investigators and members of the executive staff.

In a time of diminishing resources, we continue to find new and effective ways to address the problems challenging the City. We try to identify and fix potential corruption hazards before they develop into criminal prosecutions. And, we ensure that we recover monies the City has lost. In 2002, more than $44 million was levied or recovered through court-ordered restitutions and forfeitures, administrative fines, asset recoveries and the reinstatement of summonses or reassessments.

As you learn more about the agency by perusing the DOI website, you'll see that we not only make arrests in high impact cases but we also offer recommendations to improve government operations. I think you will be impressed by our ability to maximize our resources as we continue to provide to the City and its citizens the promotion of honest and integrity within City government.

- Rose Gill Hearn