The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) has been accused of flouting state law by ignoring public record requests and not sharing important information with the public.
It comes at a time when the CTA is facing scrutiny over safety for riders and is trying to repair its image.
When a Chicago attorney hit a brick wall requesting records about a private canine security contractor deployed on train platforms across the city, he broke through and told the ABC7 I-Team he uncovered records the public has every right to see.
It was a melee on the Red Line 69th Street platform back on July 9, 2025.
A fight between four men and canine security handlers contracted by the CTA was recorded and went viral on social media after it was posted by the Facebook account Chitown Crime Chasers.
In the video, punches and trash cans are thrown; a German Shephard bites assailants and handlers unbiddenly; one handler falls onto the train tracks.
The video led to many people writing into the CTA, questioning the training of the security dog and its handlers, and demanding an investigation.
But no one would know about those complaints if it wasn't for attorney Conley Wouters.
"I was motivated to ask for this by what looked to me like mistreatment of one of the canines," Wouters told the I-Team.
Wouters' concern for a canine's wellbeing on the CTA train platform would turn into a years' long struggle to learn more about the CTA's private canine contractor Action K9 Security.
Guards wearing black uniforms, accompanied by muzzled German Shepherds, have been a common sight on the CTA's train platforms for more than a decade.
Wouters turned to the Freedom of Information Act, known by its nickname FOIA, the law granting the public's right to access government records.
"I filed a bunch of FOIA [requests] to the CTA," Wouters explained, "namely what I was seeking was the contract between the CTA and the private security firm, as well as any complaints that they received in any way related to the firm."
Months went by and Wouters said the CTA produced none of the records he requested, so he turned to the Illinois Attorney General's Public Access Counselor (PAC).
The PAC is a way for Illinoisans to appeal FOIA requests that are ignored or denied.
After a formal review, the Public Access Counselor concluded the CTA had violated the law, and it was ordered to release the records to Wouters.
"They gave some of the records, but still not all of them," Wouters said. "A lot of silence... I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt and then they just started ignoring it. So, July of last year, I sued them."
It took nearly a full year after filing his first FOIA request to receive the records he was looking for, including hundreds of complaints filed by riders related to Action K-9 Security.
"A lot of people are concerned about the appearance of the dogs," Wouters said.
Those records included complaints about the 2025 fight on the Red Line platform. According to the documents, those complaints were "closed" in about 24 hours, with no indication of whether they were investigated.
Action K9 wouldn't comment on whether the incident was investigated.
In all, the CTA turned over 133 customer complaints involving Action K9 since 2022.
Many focused on the conditions of the dogs, including one from the CTA's own senior attorney, who wrote, "There is an AK9 unit... with a dog that seems pretty unfit for duty... The dog is muzzled, but it is lunging, growling, and barking at passersby."
But Wouters said he was surprised by complaints unrelated to the animals.
The complaints ranged in seriousness, from guards accused of not doing their job, to harassment of riders, including one rider that said they witnessed, "security guards cat calling different women."
Both Action K-9 Security and the CTA declined the I-Team's requests for an interview.
In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for Action K9 told the I-Team it believes "various complaints were produced that were incorrectly attributed to Action K-9 rather than other private security agencies, and that many if not all of those that may have been affiliated with Action K-9 were unfounded after a thorough investigation."
The CTA said it "immediately investigates" all submitted complaints, and those investigations may result in personnel being reassigned, but it wouldn't elaborate further.
Wouters also received a copy of Action K-9 Security's two-year contract with the city that took effect last year.
Total cost: $89.6 million.
An incidents chart provided by Action K-9 Security to the city shows smokers, loiterers, and fare evaders topping the list of what handlers most often deal with.
"$89.6 million, taxpayer funded," Wouters said. "It's important that we know how our tax dollars are being spent."
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart is one of many officials tasked with revamping the CTA's security after a year of intense scrutiny.
In April, the CTA announced it was ending its contract with unarmed security guards and replacing them with armed Chicago police officers and Cook County sheriff's deputies.
But Action K9 Security's contract wasn't cut off.
This past summer, Dart told the I-Team officials are still evaluating the role of private contractors
"Our radar's really up on this," Dart said, "We're looking at not just the contracts that had previously been given out, but what their purpose was."
Wouters said it shouldn't take a lawsuit for the CTA to comply with the state's public records law.
"If they're just stonewalling everyone in violation of the laws, then we don't know what's happening... I was asking for very simple things: The contract and complaints," Wouters said. "FOIA is one of- it's a really important law... it's one of the most important tools that we have to hold our government accountable."
A spokesperson for the CTA said it is "committed to handling every FOIA request thoroughly and transparently" and that it has recently updated its process for handling record requests, but it wouldn't elaborate on what changes it made.
After reviewing video of the 2025 Red Line fight, the I-Team wanted to know more about what experts thought of the training depicted, and Action K9's certifications.
That part of our investigation airs Tuesday at 6 p.m.