FTA calls for more aggressive CTA safety plan as Chicago police begin added patrols

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The Federal Transit Administration issued a response Friday to the CTA's enhanced security plan, saying more aggressive measures are needed.

The FTA said if the CTA does not submit a stronger plan within 90 days, it will withhold as much as $50 million in federal funding.

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In a statement, FTA Administrator Marc Molinaro said in part, "This 'plan' fails to measurably reduce incidents of assaults and improve overall safety on buses and trains. If people's safety is at risk, so are federal funds. CTA must act to save lives and improve safety."

The announcement from the FTA comes as more Chicago police officers are patrolling the CTA.

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The CTA sent its new safety plan to the government earlier this week. The plan calls for added police and private security for the nation's third-largest public transit system.

The plan expands a voluntary program, allowing officers to sign up to patrol the CTA on their days off, increasing the average from 77 off-duty officers per day to 120.

K-9 security staffing will also increase from 172 to 188 units.

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"The plan that was put forward by CTA is sound. It's a comprehensive plan that includes police officers, prevention efforts, wraparound services, technology, you know, using essentially the same comprehensive approach that we have used to drive bonds on the city of Chicago, that's led to nearly 30% reduction in homicides, 35% reduction in robberies," Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said.

Earlier this week, Superintendent Larry Snelling sat down with the ABC7 Chicago I-Team to talk CTA safety.

"We need to find a way to keep people who are offending on the CTA, who are acting out violently against other people," Snelling said. "We need to find a way to keep those people away from CTA."

But, not everyone is fully sold on the plan just yet.

The president of the union representing CTA workers says he's been calling for these upped security measures for years and remains skeptical of whether it will keep people and workers safe.

The CTA never specified where the increased security presence would be, but did say the agency is working with CPD to strategically deploy the added resources based on crime data.