Cook County Targets Crime On CTA Trains

Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke said on May 18 that her office is creating a Regional Transit Task Force to coordinate prosecutions and investigations tied to crime on Chicago-area buses and trains. The new group expands an internal CTA-focused unit her office began rolling out in March and publicized at train stations in April. The regional task force will include the Chicago Transit Authority, Chicago Police Department, Cook County sheriff’s office, Metra, Pace and federal agencies including the FBI, ATF and DEA. Burke said the effort is aimed at sharing intelligence, reviewing violent incidents and bringing charges in transit-related cases. ### Why did prosecutors start handing out flyers on CTA platforms? CBS Chicago reported on April 16 that members of the State’s Attorney’s office went to CTA train stations across Chicago to distribute information about the office’s new anti-crime effort. Monique Shelton, the office’s community engagement director, said volunteers were stationed on the Red and Pink lines to explain how the office was strengthening prosecutions tied to the transit system. (transitchicago.com) The April outreach campaign was tied to what the office called its internal CTA task force. Shelton said that unit was made up of 36 assistant state’s attorneys and investigators who were being trained to handle transit-related cases, including how to obtain digital evidence and video from CTA and Chicago police partners. ### What is the difference between the internal CTA unit and the new regional task force? (cbsnews.com) ABC7 Chicago reported on March 25 that the State’s Attorney’s office first created its own CTA Task Force to sharpen prosecutions for crimes committed on public transit in Chicago. That internal unit focused on training prosecutors and investigators, seeking pretrial detention in violent transit cases and asking judges to impose transit-access restrictions when defendants were released pending trial. (cbsnews.com) The May 18 regional task force is broader. CTA said the new group brings together local, county, federal and transit agencies from across the Chicago region, while the Sun-Times and WBEZ reported it will meet monthly to analyze violent incidents on or near public transit systems and work to bring charges. Burke said the regional body grew out of the office’s earlier CTA-specific work. (abc7chicago.com) ### What tools are prosecutors saying they will use? Eileen O’Neill Burke told ABC7 in April that prosecutors had begun training with CTA and Chicago police on the technology available in transit cases, including video and other investigative tools. CTA said assistant state’s attorneys are receiving specialized training on video technology that can support investigations and later be presented in court as evidence. (transitchicago.com) Shelton said the office is also asking judges either to detain defendants charged in violent transit cases or, if they are released, to bar them from returning to the specific station where the alleged crime occurred. She said the restriction would apply to the stop involved in the case, not to the CTA system as a whole. ### How does this fit into the wider CTA safety push? (abc7chicago.com) CTA said in March that it had submitted an enhanced security plan to the Federal Transit Administration that called for system policing hours to rise by 75% and for closer work with the State’s Attorney’s office on prosecuting transit crime. CBS Chicago reported that the federal government had threatened CTA funding if safety did not improve, and that the revised plan included more Chicago police transit hours, more off-duty officers and Cook County sheriff’s deputies on trains. (cbsnews.com) Burke said on May 18 that violent crime on public transportation had fallen 22% from May of last year, but added that the decline was “not good enough.” The Sun-Times reported that she described the new task force as part of a continuing effort rather than a finished campaign. ### Which agencies are now part of the effort? CTA listed the participants in the Regional Transit Task Force as the State’s Attorney’s office, Chicago police, CTA, the Cook County sheriff’s office, the U.S. (transitchicago.com) Attorney’s office, the FBI, ATF, DEA, Metra and Pace. CTA Acting President Nora Leerhsen called it an “unprecedented partnership” with every major transit agency in the region. Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling and Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart also appeared in the announcement. (chicago.suntimes.com) The first meeting of the Regional Transit Task Force is scheduled for May 26, according to CTA. WBEZ and the Sun-Times reported the group is expected to convene monthly after that to review incidents on or near public transit systems and coordinate next steps on charges and enforcement. (transitchicago.com)