Cook Co. sheriff's team tackling urgent threat from organized crime networks stealing railroad cargo

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Theft from rail cars costs consumers billions of dollars every year. Described as dangerous and costly, lawmakers say these sophisticated criminal networks are an urgent threat. Most nights, as trains pass through Chicago and the suburbs, organized bandits board moving trains to steal whatever cargo the rail cars are carrying. The head of the Cook County Sheriff's Organized Retail Crime Team says it's an everyday thing.

Before sunrise on Sept. 24, the I-Team went out with the unit on a joint operation with Cook County Sheriff police and Norfolk Southern.



Law enforcement eyes in the sky spotted several people running toward the railroad tracks in Englewood.

"We had some individuals on the train track opening up cargo containers," said Cook County Sheriff's Office Police Commander Mike Ware.



Norfolk Southern Railroad Police used drones to monitor their property.

"They steal boxes out of containers," Commander Ware told the I-Team.

The Cook County Sheriff's Organized Retail Crime Team works with the railroad police to catch those committing crimes.

"It is wildly organized, both in identifying what train cars, identifying what items to steal," said Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart.

The I-Team witnessed the arrests of two women who investigators say were waiting in get-away cars for those who had stolen items from the train. Late Friday, charges against them were dismissed by a judge.



In the morning light, Cook County Sheriff K9, Bolt, searched for a suspect who fled.

"These individuals do not think about their safety. All they think about is a profit, whatever they can gain from any illegal activity," said Ware.

The department's new high-tech helicopter also aided in the hunt.

"It's always important to have air support," said Ware.

Bolt cutters were found near the tracks, along with dozens of boxes thrown from the train, left behind by the thieves.

Cook County sheriff's new helicopter seen as vital crime-fighting asset

"We have to utilize drones, helicopters," said Sheriff Dart. "Logistically, this is tricky, and that's why, to be honest with you, the drones and the helicopter are really helpful. A: they can get there in a hurry, and B: the footage they can get both for prosecuting later on."



Equipped with high powered cameras and a comprehensive mapping system, the new Cook County sheriff's police helicopter brings an array of advanced technology to the county's crime-fighting arsenal.

"Its ability to identify license plates and things along those lines, to guide us, really, to where people are going, particularly with the helicopter, because the helicopter, once they take off, we can follow it," Sheriff Dart said.

Sheriff Dart says this is an instrumental tool to catch criminals and deter crime in the city and suburbs, including organized retail crime targeting trains and rail yards.



"With a helicopter there, we can get some cars there pretty quick, because there's limited number of exit points where they can get out of the yards," said Sheriff Dart.

Monitors on board map streets on a live feed to help sheriff's police dispatch units to track fleeing vehicles without needing a potentially dangerous high-speed chase.

"We have no need to do that, right? We literally know where they're going," said Sheriff Dart. "We didn't have to even get close to them, following them, the helicopters following them. And there was ability to have other units in the general area where someone was going to get there, and when they bailed on the car, there were people right there, right because the helicopter was already above there, we'd get people in custody. We never would have gotten before."

The Cook County sheriff's helicopter is seen as such a policing asset that it's also tapped for work on a joint task force with Chicago police to help cover 975 square miles in Chicagoland.

"It's just so wildly helpful. And in the world we're in now, I don't even know how you can operate without this stuff anymore. It's just so important," said Sheriff Dart.

Cook County's unit participated in 12 joint operations with railroad police this year, making 39 arrests, including two men charged with breaking into a south side railyard and stealing several boxes of vodka.

Earlier this year, Congress launched an inquiry into the alarming surge in freight rail cargo thefts. Railway companies typically do not publish these crime numbers. But during the congressional hearing it was revealed there were more than 65,000 cargo theft incidents last year leading to $100 million in losses.

"The bad guys know a couple of different things, they're really good at return on investment, and they're very good at understanding our business just as well as we understand it," said VeriskCargoNet Vice President of Operations Keith Lewis. "There's techniques that they know, and I can't give away a lot of the secrets, but they know a vast majority of the time which exact train car or container trailer to break into."

"Plenty of times we deal with dangerous, violent individuals," said Commander Ware. "Proceeds go to illegal firearms and narcotics, so using the proceeds to funnel the violence in the city."

Sheriff Dart says he hopes federal lawmakers will pass a new bill aimed at investigating and prosecuting these types of crimes. The Combating Organized Retail Crime Act would create a coordination center within the Department of Homeland Security, bringing together federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and the retail industry to share information and resources.