In the coming weeks, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) plans to introduce a new test for its employees on domestic-surveillance policies.
Last year, the Department of Justice Inspector General found that numerous employees cheated on the FBI's Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide test by passing around answers and talking to each other during the open-book test. It was recommended by the inspector general that those found to have cheated be punished and a new test be administrated.
"Prior to implementation of the revised Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (DIOG), all FBI special agents and appropriate professional staff will be required to successfully complete a training course and assessment," said FBI Spokesman Paul Bresson. "This requirement, to include the assessment, is designed to review important concepts (including items focusing on respect for civil rights and privacy concerns) and to ensure that FBI employees understand the changes that are being made in the revised DIOG."
According to the FBI, the DIOG was created in 2008 to implement the previously issued Attorney General's Guidelines for Domestic FBI Operations. The guidelines united a number of previously separate guidelines.
The new test has been revised in a number of ways including the new version being much shorter and providing agents more leeway on surveillance techniques.
