Report: FBI disciplinary unit blasted

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- The FBI unit charged with agent discipline is inefficient and perceived as very unfair, an official report said Friday.

The study was conducted by a commission headed by former Attorney General Griffin Bell and former FBI Associate Director Lee Colwell at the request of FBI Director Robert Mueller.

The commission found a perception in the FBI that the unit favors management over lower level employees.

"The commission has drawn the overall conclusion ... that (the Office of Professional Responsibility) ... has lost touch with its original mission and no longer effectively serves the director and the FBI as a whole," the report said. "OPR has become an unfortunate lighning rod ... as a perceived source of unfairness and favoritism that adversetly impacts morale ..."

The study recommends a fundmental restructuring of the unit, among other things.