Some interesting news out of Lansing, MI today. Attorney General Bill Schuette (SHOO'-tee) has created a Public Integrity Unit aimed at stepping up the fight against corruption in state and local government.
The full story can be read here.
Shuette campaigned on fighting corruption in Michigan and now it seems he is taking action to do just that. Interestingly, he has put together an investigative unit to identify and crack down on corruption.
The only problem I foresee is the mechanism that is will be in place for the worker (or manager, partner, etc.) to safely report this corruption to Shuette's new corruption unit, the PIU (Public Integrity Unit). If the objective is to unmask players of pay-to-play schemes to make Michigan or more business-friendly state, then the system is going to have to be incredibly effective at uncovering existing and ongoing schemes.
My suggestion to the Attorney General would be to leverage some of the whistle blower resources that currently exist in the private sector, such as SilentSender.com . Have a disinterested third party playing "operator" between informant and the PIU would give Schuette's plan a chance at success. Anonymous messaging and anonymous mail should be utilized to communicate the nefarious activity. Public engagement is important- if people are too afraid or do not have enough incentive to police their own communities because of the fear reprisal- this new "Public Integrity Unit" will have to adjust its mandate and draw upon additional tax revenue to enhance their investigative arm.
While his intentions are good, and he is "seeing though" a campaign promise- pay-to-play schemes could easily be exposed by the willing public if equitably rewarded and proper measures to protect their identities were in place.
This is a perfect application for anonymous messaging.
Discover how to send an anonymous email - Go Silent! The Truth Will Set You Free...
The full story can be read here.
Shuette campaigned on fighting corruption in Michigan and now it seems he is taking action to do just that. Interestingly, he has put together an investigative unit to identify and crack down on corruption.
The only problem I foresee is the mechanism that is will be in place for the worker (or manager, partner, etc.) to safely report this corruption to Shuette's new corruption unit, the PIU (Public Integrity Unit). If the objective is to unmask players of pay-to-play schemes to make Michigan or more business-friendly state, then the system is going to have to be incredibly effective at uncovering existing and ongoing schemes.
My suggestion to the Attorney General would be to leverage some of the whistle blower resources that currently exist in the private sector, such as SilentSender.com . Have a disinterested third party playing "operator" between informant and the PIU would give Schuette's plan a chance at success. Anonymous messaging and anonymous mail should be utilized to communicate the nefarious activity. Public engagement is important- if people are too afraid or do not have enough incentive to police their own communities because of the fear reprisal- this new "Public Integrity Unit" will have to adjust its mandate and draw upon additional tax revenue to enhance their investigative arm.
While his intentions are good, and he is "seeing though" a campaign promise- pay-to-play schemes could easily be exposed by the willing public if equitably rewarded and proper measures to protect their identities were in place.
This is a perfect application for anonymous messaging.
Discover how to send an anonymous email - Go Silent! The Truth Will Set You Free...
What do you think- is it better to create more task forces or give the "people" the power to police themselves?
ReplyDelete