District taxpayers may have thought they were protected against waste, fraud and abuse by an aggressive inspector general. But Charles J. Willoughby has failed to investigate many complaints, often choosing to refer them for consideration to the same agencies accused of violating local laws, rules and regulations. In 2010, the IG received 610 complaints, according to documents obtained by The Washington Examiner under the Freedom of Information Act. Willoughby referred 308 of them back to agency directors; in 198 of those cases, he didn’t even require managers to provide any follow-up report.

Willoughby’s process of allowing possible offenders to investigate themselves is troublesome and could have a chilling effect: Employees understandably could interpret the system as favoring agency directors and lose confidence in reporting waste, fraud or abuse. Residents, realizing the IG’s deep-sixing proclivities, could see the process as totally meaningless.