Handling New York's bad apples

More efficient and cheaper than tribunals: Paul Cullen reports on New York's remedy for corruption, the Department of Investigations

The politician had a simple proposition for the developer: "You get your supermarket, and I get the money". Now that might sound familiar to Irish ears, but this is New York, and the crucial difference is that this conversation is being recorded. No tribunal was needed to indict Angel Rodrigues, a Democratic council member from Brooklyn, and no tears were shed as his career in politics came to an abrupt end.

From Irish-style croneyism in the 19th century (as featured in the recent film Gangs of New York) to Mafia crime in the 20th century, this city has long struggled to keep its politicians and public officials free from temptation.

Not known for their naivety, New Yorkers take the view that corruption is a permanent feature of public life, to be tackled with strict regulations and determined investigation. The city has some of the toughest laws and most stringent reporting regulations to be found in any place where money and power intersect.

Given the huge cost and time taken by the tribunals in Ireland - about $50 million in five years for Flood and Moriarty alone, before all the legal bills are in - it's a system we could learn from.

The Department of Investigations, which leads the fight against corrupt and unethical activities, is based in a modest office block near Wall Street in downtown Manhattan. Older and more powerful than the FBI, it was established in 1873 after a series of corruption scandals. Today, it has a staff of 300, comprising auditors, police detectives with undercover experience, attorneys and civilian investigators, who are unarmed.

Investigators work in teams, covering the various areas of city government, such as housing, hospitals and the fire department, as Robert Eisman, an investigator of 12 years' standing, explains.

They work independently, reporting only to the mayor, something Eisman says makes them very powerful: "If you can do your job without fear of being fired for finding out the truth, that makes you very effective".

Department staff have full access to private information concerning anyone under investigation, without needing to obtain a subpoena, like the FBI. "That covers every letter, every note, every e-mail. The key is not letting people know they're under investigation. If they find out, they'll only cover their tracks."

In contrast, Irish tribunals have to telegraph their every move by requesting access to material or going through the lengthy process of seeking court orders. Too often for coincidence, the information sought is found to have been lost, shredded or burned.

New York city's 400,000 employees know they face the sack if they fail to co-operate with an investigation. Anti-corruption and ethics regulations also cover contractors supplying services to the city, accounting for half of its $40 billion annual budget.

Thus all contractors must agree to an investigations clause, which requires co-operation under pain of losing the contract. Municipal and contractor staff also have to submit to background checks, and there is no requirement to inform them of the results.

"It's a way of keeping corrupt people out of government," says Eisman.

Among those nabbed in recent investigations were 100 people who took advantage of computer crashes after the September 11th attacks to steal money from a credit union, 18 plumbing inspectors who extorted bribes in return for approvals on plumbing contracts in the city and a prison officer who forged doctor's notes to explain his 125 sick days.

In one celebrated case, David Dinkins, a leading Democratic politician in the 1970s, was selected as deputy mayor. However, a background check discovered that he had not paid taxes for three years, and he was deselected. Dinkins had the last laugh, however: after spending some time as a lowly clerk, he relaunched his political career and was eventually elected as mayor in 1990.

In the largest tax fraud uncovered, it was found all 18 assessors in the property division had been taking bribes from property-owners in return for artificially depressing the value of their properties, which meant that less tax had to be paid.

"This practice had gone on for 35 years, at times when the city's school didn't have enough money for paper." The group took $10 million in bribes and cost the city four times that amount, but its ringleader died before coming to trial.

The city also has strict rules on conflicts of interest and financial disclosure. All politicians and senior employees in New York are required to submit their financial statements each year, and most of this information is available to the public.

The current mayor, billionaire businessman Michael Bloomberg, was required to divest his holding in some companies because they were doing business with the city.

"The principle is that you can't take what isn't yours," explains Eisman. He cites the example of a former city sheriff who continued his private legal practice after being appointed to the job so that, effectively, his public work was subsidising his private work. This individual was fined $85,000 for the conflict of interest.

As anti-corruption measures were strengthened, crime mutated, and this called for a stronger response. The city now appoints an "Ipsig" (Independent Private Sector Inspector General) in cases where contracting companies are suspected of illegal activity.

A number of the companies which paint New York's bridges are tainted with Mob links, for example, yet the city still needs the bridges painted. The solution has been to appoint an Ipsig, usually a former prosecutor, to run the company and be the "eyes and ears" of the department.

"The Ipsig has full access to company records, it reports to the Department first and - best of all - the company has to pay for it." Ipsigs were appointed to many of the companies that were contracted to clean up the wreckage of the World Trade Centre site.

As in Ireland, investigators rely heavily on the help of whistleblowers to expose corruption. But unlike Ireland, they have powers to force a company to re-employ a person who has blown the whistle on corrupt practices.

The one gap in the department's work is the New York Police Department, which was strong enough to fend off inspection by an outside body.

"There's always going to be corruption in one form or another. It's human nature. All you can do is dissuade people from doing it, or take action against them when they do," says Eisman. "Cities can do these things; they just need the will to take action."