The City of Chicago Office of Inspector General (OIG) released its first quarter 2026 report on Apr. 15, detailing several investigations into misconduct by city employees and officials.
The report outlines issues that affect public trust in local government, including mishandled investigations, time falsification, drinking while on duty at O’Hare International Airport, breach of fiduciary duty by an alderperson, and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan fraud involving current or former city employees.
Among the findings, OIG documented that the Chicago Police Department mishandled an investigation into a death caused by a vehicle driven by a member of the Chicago Fire Department. Another case involved widespread time falsification and drinking alcohol during work hours among fourteen city employees at O’Hare International Airport. The office also sustained ten investigations into PPP loan fraud—nine involving current or former police department members and one involving a City Council employee.
Additionally, the report describes how a former high-level Mayor’s Office employee used their position to secure employment for their child with a city contractor and attempted to facilitate $9.6 million in unauthorized payments to that contractor. The OIG also found that an alderperson violated fiduciary duty by removing a city officer from a protected position without proper authority.
Deborah Witzburg, Inspector General for the City of Chicago, said: “This quarter’s report is the last of my term as Inspector General. It has been an extraordinary privilege to serve in this role, and I leave this position with gratitude for my time in it and for all that my colleagues have accomplished in that time. I believe I will leave OIG more independent and more effective than I found it, and I look forward to the Office’s long-term stability and success.”
Witzburg added: “There is so much left to do in the effort to build a City government which more closely resembles the one Chicagoans deserve. I hope that during my time here, despite challenges and obstructions in the path, we have pushed a very heavy boulder up a very steep hill a little bit. I am a true believer in the mission of this Office, and I fiercely love this City. It’s the home I chose and the place my children are from, and I will watch with gratitude and admiration as OIG continues the messy, challenging, and vital work of making it better.”
In Q1 2026 alone, OIG received 3,397 new intakes; at quarter’s end there were 268 active misconduct investigations—226 into city employees; sixteen into elected officials; twenty-one into contractors or persons seeking contracts; five others—with most allegations concerning misconduct rather than ineffectiveness.
