OEMC INVESTIGATIONS

An IGO investigation determined that three Office of Emergency Management & Communications

(OEMC) Foremen of Linemen falsified their mileage reimbursement requests.5 Thirteen
surveillances of Foreman A‟s personal vehicle, 8 surveillances of Foreman B‟s personal vehicle,
and 3 surveillances of the Foreman C‟s personal vehicle were conducted while parked at their 1345
W. Madison Avenue work location.
The investigation found that on 11 of the 13 surveillance days (or 85% of the time), Foreman A

falsified his mileage reimbursement entries by claiming he drove a total of 388 miles in his car
during his work hours when surveillance established that his car never moved. Based on the false
entries for those surveillance days, Foreman A improperly claimed and received a total of $226 in
mileage reimbursement payments from the City.
The investigation also found that on 7 of 8 surveillance days (or 87% of the time), Foreman B

falsified his mileage reimbursement entries by claiming he drove a total of 243 miles in his
personal car during work hours when surveillance established in fact that his car never moved.
Based on the false entries for those surveillance days, Foreman B improperly claimed and received
a total of $139 in mileage reimbursement from the City.
Lastly, the investigation found that on 3 of 4 surveillance days, Foreman C falsified his mileage
reimbursement entries by claiming he drove a total of 101 miles in his personal car during work
hours when surveillance established his car never moved. Based on the false entries for those
surveillance days, Foreman C improperly claimed and received a total of $59 in mileage
reimbursement....
The IGO also conducted surveillance of the General Foreman of Lineman who supervised Foreman

of Linemen A, B and C.6 Surveillance observed the General Foreman swiping in for work at a fire
station near his residence on eight of twelve days, and at a police station near his residence on a
ninth day. This conduct violated OEMC‟s time-keeping policy requiring employees to swipe in at
their assigned location. By not swiping at his assigned location, the General Foreman falsely
indicated to the City that he/she was at work when he/she was not. In addition, after one of the
improper fire station swipes, surveillance observed the General Foreman return to his residence and
remain there for 55 minutes while on the clock....
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An IGO investigation determined that in an attempt to get out of a parking ticket, an OEMC

employee told multiple police officers that she worked for the Chicago Police Department‟s
Internal Affairs Division (IAD). After observing a CPD Officer write a parking ticket for
illegally parking in a bus stop, the OEMC employee pursued the ticketing officer, claiming that
she worked at IAD, and that she wanted the ticket “taken care of.” In so doing, the OEMC
employee showed the CPD Officer her City of Chicago identification card. The OEMC
employee then called the CPD Officer‟s supervisor, maintaining to that supervisor and others
that she was an IAD employee during several transfers of her call before being able to speak with
a Lieutenant.
The Lieutenant reviewed the circumstances surrounding the ticket, and determined that the

citation was not issued in error. When looking for the OEMC employee‟s contact information on
the CPD database in order to return the ticket to her, the Lieutenant discovered that the OEMC
employee worked for OEMC, not IAD. When the IGO confronted the OEMC employee about
the incident, she admitted to misrepresenting her employment to the CPD and admitted that she
asked the parking ticket to be “taken care of.”
The IGO recommended that the OEMC employee be discharged for violating the City Personnel
Rule that bars “having other City employees perform services or directing other city employees
to perform services for unauthorized purposes.”
OEMC agreed, and termination proceedings have been initiated.

Read the report here