Audit cites Safety Department for failures in required checks
NASHVILLE (AP) — The state Department of Safety has done a poor job tracking school bus safety checks, updating driver records and making sure driver’s licenses examiners are qualified, auditors said Tuesday.
The audit of the Safety Department found a number of deficiencies — including problems with handgun checks that could result in people receiving a permit without proper training.
State law requires the agency to check school buses every year, with more than 8,000 in the state eligible for inspection. But without a good system in place, companies running school buses might get away with such tricks as rolling back odometers, auditors with the Comptroller of the Treasury’s office said.
The agency has already taken steps in a number of areas to address the deficiencies, including improved computer systems, Department of Safety spokeswoman Beth Denton said.
In some cases the agency doesn’t have enough people to meet the various time constraints required by the state, she said, such as processing titles in 30 days and handgun permits in 90 days.
“A lot of it depends on funding and the available personnel resources,” Denton said. “We will certainly do everything we can to improve. We are maximizing our resources as much as we can internally.”
The agency runs a number of departments, including the Tennessee Highway Patrol, licensing and the law enforcement academy.
Some audit findings dealt with poor customer service, such as a noting that the agency doesn’t ensure handgun permits are issued within 90 days as required by state law. The auditors also said the agency doesn’t verify good service at driver’s license stations, or make sure staff time is allocated during busy times.
Other findings included problems with keeping track of violations by commercial drivers, major backlogs in processing vehicle titles, or posting accidents to driver records.
In the case of commercial driving records, auditors blamed the courts, which took anywhere from six days to 439 days to submit the information.
The agency, which is supposed to verify that people applying for a handgun permit have indeed received training required by law, doesn’t verify classes have been taken, the audit showed.
“Failure to verify that each individual applying for a handgun carry permit has successfully completed a course with an approved handgun safety school may potentially result in individuals falsely claiming to have successfully completed an approved handgun safety course through a fake certificate,” auditors wrote.
Another problem was found in the Highway Patrol, which needs to do a better job of allocating patrol officers, the audit stated. Simply relying on the judgment of senior officers to set patrol schedules isn’t effective, it showed.
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On the Net:
Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury: http://www.comptroller.state.tn.us/