Major transit workers unions calling for rebirth of CTA police force in wake of Blue Line murders
CHICAGO (WLS) -- CTA spends millions of dollars on its various security strategies, but have those strategies been effective?
CTA's security did not prevent the murders of four sleeping passengers Labor Day morning. Only after-the-fact did the CTA's camera system help catch the accused shooter.
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The two union locals representing transit system employees on the rails and the roadways are demanding a full system-wide overhaul of security to protect thousands of employees and a million riders each day. In 1979, the CTA's dedicated police force was disbanded and now there are calls to bring it back.
Some feel safety was shattered in Forest Park Monday morning when police say an ex-private security guard executed four sleeping passengers on a Blue Line train.
TIMELINE OF TERROR: How the Forest Park CTA Blue Line mass shooting on Labor Day unfolded
The president of the union representing 2600 CTA rapid transit employees points to the relatively few Chicago police officers assigned to patrol the entire city, bus and train system daily. About 170 total officers are deployed to transit according to one city database.
They are backed up by some volunteer overtime CPD officers that the CTA advertises as 24/7 patrols.
Yellow-vested, unarmed CTA employees, are also part of the agency's $65-million security strategy.
"They have no way of arresting anyone if something goes wrong. And honestly, I don't think that they deter people from doing the things that they're doing on the trains," said Pennie McCoach, President/Business Agent of
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 308.
As the I-Team reported Wednesday, cameras on trains and buses don't transmit video in real time and only record for future use.
"That's something that both unions have been crying for, especially when we push the side of an alarm, we feel that someone should be able to tap in and see what's going on right there. The cameras are mostly used for discipline, not crime," said Keith Hill,
President/Business Agent, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 241. "We have more people disciplined than criminals caught from the cameras."
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In a statement, CTA officials tell the I-Team there are 400 unarmed security guards. They are the neon-vested employees who can observe and call for help.
Full statement from CTA:
The CPD's Public Transportation Section is a unit of officers dedicated solely to CTA buses and trains. Officers patrol the system 24/7. CTA supplements those efforts with roughly 400 unarmed security guards, public-view fare gate monitors, K-9 units, and our extensive security-camera network, which now boasts more than 33,000 cameras.
Like many major U.S. transit agencies, the CTA does not have its own police force. The CTA last had its own police force in the early 1980s, but it was replaced by a much more effective and fiscally prudent partnership with the Chicago Police Department (CPD). Over the last four decades, the CTA and CPD have built a strong, collaborative relationship and network of resources that have greatly benefitted CTA customers.
Pres. Carter addressed the disbanding of the CTA police department during Tuesday's press conference saying in part, because, "the Chicago Police Department, who had resources that were vastly more superior than anything the CTA could have, was a much more efficient way of providing policing services to CTA."
CPD not only has a Public Transportation unit dedicated solely to transit, but it also uses officers and detectives citywide to deter and investigate crime.
Through this decades-long partnership, CTA and CPD have made investments in investigative and video surveillance technologies that have directly benefitted both the CTA and the City of Chicago. For example, in 2020 the City unveiled the innovative Strategic Decision Support Center (SDSC) within the 1st District, which focuses on safety within the CTA system.
In addition to CPD's Public Transportation Section officers who are working to increase safety across the 146 stations and approximately 224.1 miles of track, the SDSC room also has access to the CTA's surveillance network and can monitor and track active and ongoing incidents in real-time. This allows for quicker deployment to active incidents and gives officers the ability to capture and disseminate critical intelligence more efficiently. This also allows for CPD to pinpoint areas in the CTA system that require additional police presence and create deployment strategies based on in that information.
The safety and security of customers and employees are top priorities for CTA. To further supplement these CPD resources, in 2022, CTA extended its Voluntary Special Employment Program (VSEP) agreement with CPD for additional sworn police officers who volunteer to patrol the CTA system on their days off. Through this extension, CTA increased the program's pay at a rate of one and a half times the officer's regular hourly rate. The number of officers on the system as part of the volunteer program fluctuates. However, as a result, more police officers are signing up to work on the CTA system on their days off.
