Letter Report on the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor’s Monitoring of Its Employees Using City- or Personally -Owned Vehicles to Conduct City Business

LETTER REPORT IN BRIEF

This audit determined if the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor (OSNP) is effectively monitoring its employees who drive City-owned or personally-owned vehicles on City business.

New York City requires that only those employees who exercise reasonable care in operating City- or personally-owned vehicles be allowed to use them to conduct City business.  This requirement is outlined in the City of New York’s “City Vehicle Driver Handbook” (Regulations). All agency heads through the Agency Transportation Coordinator (ATC) must ensure that all employees assigned a City-owned vehicle either for full-time use or temporary use are authorized to drive.  It is also the ATC’s responsibility to ensure that these drivers have valid licenses and insurance (if they are driving their personal vehicles).  The driver’s license should be a New York State License unless the employee is exempt from City residency requirements.  If this is the case, then the authorized driver must have a valid license from the state where he/she resides and must have the appropriate classification for the vehicle which he/she is driving on City business. The Regulations further specify that City agencies must establish programs that promote safety along with proper training in the use of motor vehicles.

In following these criteria, City agencies use the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) License Event Notification System (LENS). The ATC is responsible for notifying DMV of all agency-authorized drivers. This enables the DMV’s LENS program to notify the ATC of any event that affects the driver’s license.  This includes: if a license is expiring; points accrued; accidents; driving while impaired; or driving while under the influence.  This enables the ATC to ensure that only employees with valid licenses are driving on City business.  The City’s policy recommends that agencies participate in LENS to monitor the driving behavior of their employees.

Results

We found that OSPN effectively monitors the driving behavior of its authorized drivers.  OSPN uses the New York State DMV Dial- In- Inquiry to receive its updates and revoke the privileges of those drivers who have a suspended or revoked license in a timely manner as prescribed by regulations.  OSPN also verifies that its employees who drive their personal vehicles for City business have insurance.  In addition, OSNP employees are provided with a required safety awareness program.

We also found that OSPN monitors the use of E-ZPasses and permits by its authorized drivers in accordance with applicable rules and regulations.

In their response, OSNP officials generally agreed with the report.