Overall Conclusion:
The Department of Public Safety and the Minnesota Criminal Gang Oversight Council properly authorized and accurately recorded grants in compliance with material finance-related legal provisions, and ensured that grantee reimbursement requests complied with grant provisions.
Agency Background:
In 1997, the Legislature created the Minnesota Criminal Gang Oversight Council and the Criminal Gang Strike Force to deal with the increasing violence inflicted on the citizens of Minnesota by gang crimes. The Minnesota Criminal Gang Oversight Council is an advisory council, which oversees the Criminal Gang Strike Force. The Criminal Gang Strike Force is a multi-governmental, anti-gang initiative with statewide jurisdiction to conduct criminal investigations. The mission of the Criminal Gang Strike Force is to identify, investigate, arrest, and prosecute gang members engaged in criminal activity in Minnesota. Funding for the Minnesota Criminal Gang Oversight Council and the Criminal Gang Strike Force was provided by a General Fund appropriation to the Department of Public Safety.
Financial Audit Reports address internal control weaknesses and noncompliance issues found during our audits of state departments and agencies. The scope of our audit work at the Department of Public Safety for the Criminal Gang Strike Force covered appropriations for the period from July 1, 1998, through June 30, 2001.
