The City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (OIG) has published its Quarterly Report for the first quarter of 2025, which summarizes concluded investigations, inquiries, intakes, and other operations of OIG, from January 1, 2025, through March 31, 2025. This report has been filed with City Council, as required by § 2-56-120 of the Municipal Code of Chicago (MCC).
OIG received 1,752 new intakes and concluded 33 investigations in the first quarter. Of OIG’s 280 active misconduct investigations, 233 are into City employees; 20 into elected officials; 18 into contractors, subcontractors, and persons seeking contracts; and seven into others, including members of the public who may have violated Ethics rules by offering improper gifts to City actors.
“I was confirmed as Inspector General for the City of Chicago on April 27, 2022, and as we approach the fourth year of this term, I am deeply proud of the work being done by OIG’s extraordinarily talented and committed staff,” said Deborah Witzburg, Inspector General for the City of Chicago. “I came into this job with three priorities for OIG: to prioritize work which fosters public trust in government and pays down the deficit of legitimacy at which the City of Chicago operates with its residents, to engineer OIG for long-term stability and success, and to leverage interdisciplinary cooperation across our practice areas to maximize our impact. I am pleased to see those priorities reflected in the work we have done in the first quarter of 2025, and which continues.”
The efforts reported this quarter include sustained administrative investigations in which OIG found that:
- A Department of Streets and Sanitation employee carried their personal firearm into a City building and left it unattended in a bathroom;
- A Chicago Police Department lieutenant violated the Governmental Ethics Ordinance by failing to disclose an illegal interest in a City contract;
- A supervisor at the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection verbally abused and harassed employees of a business that holds multiple City licenses during an intoxicated altercation; and
- A State of Illinois elected official improperly lobbied City officials for desired legislative outcomes on behalf of their clients, which included a company that held an eight-figure contract with CPD.
Also reported in this quarter, OIG identified and effected the return of more than $50,000 in improper campaign contributions to City officials, and issued advisories to the Mayor’s Office on the handling of gifts accepted on behalf of the City and to the Department of Water Management on public transparency around water main and sewer lines built too close together.
Read the Report
Read the full report, released on April 15, 2025: OIG First Quarter 2025 Report
About the Office of Inspector General
The mission of the independent and nonpartisan City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (OIG) is to promote economy, effectiveness, efficiency, and integrity by identifying corruption, waste, and mismanagement in City government. OIG is a watchdog for the taxpayers of the City and has jurisdiction to conduct inquiries into most aspects of City government.
If you see misconduct, mismanagement, ineffectiveness, or inefficiency, we need to hear from you.
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