About the HOTLINE
The Whistleblower Hotline is designed for reporting City employees or vendors the City engages with who you suspect are engaged in fraud, waste, or abuse of City assets. While face-to-face reporting is always the best form of communication, it is not always feasible. Recognizing that employees are not always comfortable going through the chain of command, the Fraud Hotline provides another vehicle to report fraud, waste, or abuse anonymously and confidentially."
Reporting Fraud, Waste or Abuse
Call the Whistleblower HOTLINE at (951) 826-2232 or submit information online.
(NOTE: you will be redirected to the City's 311 webpage, and under SELECT THE TYPE OF PROBLEM YOU ARE REPORTING, you must select the Whistleblower Hotline option)
You can choose to remain anonymous. The Internal Audit Division will maintain the confidentiality of all complaints, including documents. Complaints submitted online are routed directly to the Internal Audit Division. The Internal Audit Division will investigate all complaints received related to fraud, waste and abuse. Complaints pertaining to City employees in the areas of employee relations, discrimination, harassment, safety, workers’ compensation fraud, and related personnel matters will be forwarded to the Human Resources Director for appropriate handling and investigation, which may include the Police Department and/or outside investigators, depending on the nature of the issue and whether criminal conduct is alleged.
Hotline Process
In order to process your complaint, a minimum amount of information is needed. Please ensure that you have the following information before contacting the Hotline:
- You are reporting fraud, waste, abuse that involves a City of Riverside employee(s), a contractor(s) or a vendor(s) doing business with the City of Riverside.
- You know the date and time when alleged incident occurred.
- You can describe the alleged incident (what occurred and where).
- You know who the alleged suspect involved is.
Whistleblower Protection
The City will not retaliate, nor will it tolerate retaliation against those who, in good faith, report suspected fraud, waste and abuse or who participate in an investigation of suspected violations. An act of retaliation should be reported immediately to the Internal Audit Division for referral to the Human Resources Director, who will investigate and, if appropriate, report as a potential City policy violation. In addition, those who bring matters to the Internal Audit Division are protected through the State of California Whistleblower Protection Statute, California Labor Code Sections 1102.5 and 1106.
Fraud Prevention, Reporting and Investigation Policy
The City has implemented a Fraud Prevention, Reporting and Investigation policy to provide communication and guidance to employees when misuse or misappropriation of City assets. The policy (Number 01.011.00) can be found on the Internal Audit Division website under Administrative Manual.