Shortly after taking office, Nagin launched an anti-corruption campaign within city government, including crackdowns on the city’s Taxicab Bureau and Utilities Department. Media scenes of corrupt officials being led out of City Hall in handcuffs were received with surprised enthusiasm by much of the public. When an investigation into corruption among city vehicle inspection certification workers (locally known as “brake tag inspection”) suggested that corruption was systemic, Nagin fired the entire department workforce. He declared a month-long hiatus on inspections and a moratorium on ticketing for expired tags while an entirely new force of employees were hired and trained for the city’s brake tag inspection stations. Nagin’s actions were viewed with surprise, given the state’s history of preferential political treatment for people with social or family connections. Indeed, when Nagin was asked what should be done about his cousin, who was implicated in the taxi cab bureau scandals, Nagin said “if he’s guilty, arrest him.” Nagin’s cousin was later arrested.
