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FBI Unable to Launch New Computer Program -Audit

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By Deborah Charles

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI (news - web sites) has squandered $170 million on a failed computer system agents can use to instantly share information, and seems to know neither how long it will take nor how much it will cost to build one, a Justice Department (news - web sites) audit showed on Thursday.

In a harsh criticism of the FBI's efforts to fix a shortfall identified after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Inspector General Glenn Fine said the bureau still relies on an antiquated case-filing system that hampers agents' ability to properly do their jobs.

"After more than three years, multiple missed deadlines, and a price tag of $170 million, the FBI still does not have an investigative case management system to replace the antiquated ... system," Fine said in a statement to the Senate Appropriations Committee submitted along with his report.

"Further, we are not confident that the FBI has a firm sense of how much longer and how much more it will cost to develop and deploy a usable system," he said.

Parts of the audit were reported last month and the FBI acknowledged then that it might not be able to salvage the computer program.

In a hearing before the committee to discuss the problems with the program, FBI Director Robert Mueller said he was frustrated and disappointed with the delays. He took responsibility for some of the setbacks and for the bureau's failure to properly control the project.

Senators in the committee appeared exasperated with news that the program would likely be scrapped.

"I'm ready to tear out what little bit of hair I have left," said Sen. Patrick Leahy (news, bio, voting record), a Democrat from Vermont, who called the FBI's efforts to revamp its computer system a "train wreck in slow motion."

Failure of the Virtual Case File software is the latest glitch in the bureau's effort to overhaul its computer system -- one of Mueller's priorities in the agency's reorganization after the Sept. 11 hijackings.

FBI'S WORK AFFECTED

Fine said if the new software system -- which allows agents to directly input reports and share information instantly -- is not implemented, the FBI cannot do its job.

"In sum, we believe the FBI's ability to perform its important functions effectively, including counterterrorism, counterintelligence and criminal law enforcement, will be significantly affected by its ability to implement a modern case management system," Fine wrote in the report.

He said the FBI disagreed with his conclusion that there were national security implications if the FBI continued to rely on its old system.

Mueller said that, although the Virtual Case File appears likely to be scrapped, the FBI had made other substantial information technology improvements to help support its counterterrorism mission.

He said the pace of technological innovation had overtaken the FBI's original vision for the Virtual Case File software. The bureau will likely end up using commercially available programs to create a new automated case file system.

Mueller said the FBI hoped to recoup about $65.5 million in reusable services and equipment from the $170 million spent on the Virtual Case File, commissioned from Science Applications International Corp. of San Diego in 2001 but delayed repeatedly before being delivered in December 2004.

Mueller said Science Applications International was partially responsible for failing to deliver the system as promised. He said the Justice Department was looking into whether it could recover some of the funds paid to them.

February 6, 2005 at 01:34 AM in Online crime | Permalink | TrackBack (24) | Top of page | Blog Home