Office of Inspector General

The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) Office of Inspector General (OIG) was established by Executive Order in 2004 to evaluate and investigate fraud, abuse, and misconduct within ADOT programs.   OIG investigators are Arizona POST certified police officers that are uniquely trained and qualified to pursue regulatory compliance and criminal prosecution of motor vehicle and criminal laws, particularly those related to vehicle dealers, title fraud, odometer fraud, automobile identification, and driver license and state identification card fraud.  The following are the types of investigations conducted.

 

Dealer / Title Fraud Investigations

The Dealer / Title Fraud Unit is responsible for investigating complaints concerning both licensed and unlicensed automobile dealers as regulated by Arizona Revised Statutes, Title 28, Chapter 10. This includes all aspects of dealer issues from vehicles not emission tested by the dealer prior to the sale of the vehicle to “curbing,” a term utilized to describe someone illegally selling vehicles without the proper MVD dealer license. These detectives also conduct investigations surrounding odometer fraud, title fraud and driver license fraud.

 

Fraudulent Documents

Fraudulent Document investigations look into allegations of document fraud, including driver licenses, identification cards, title and registration and fraudulently manufactured documents, for which the Department has jurisdiction.  Investigators work closely with the Facial Recognition Unit, as well as Federal, State and local agencies to investigate fraudulently issued credentials by means of surveillance, search warrants, custodial arrest and submitting criminal cases for prosecution.

 

Facial Recognition

Facial Recognition is part of a safety initiative designed to help detect and prevent identity theft within the ADOT Motor Vehicle databases. Facial Recognition technology utilizes an automated search of the face of an individual photo and compares the image to other images within the database. By design, this process produces a group of likely candidates to be evaluated. Investigators specially trained in the “Face Identification” process manually examine and compare the individual to selected likely candidates and initiate investigations when identity fraud is suspected.

 

Professional Standards

Professional Standards investigations review allegations of fraud and misconduct by both ADOT employees and third party processors as part of an objective accountability system. The ability of ADOT Enforcement's Professional Standards Unit (PSU) to investigate and resolve complaints against its employees is essential for public confidence. Complaints can be initiated through any ADOT supervisor or by utilizing the Fraud Hotline.