Mayor’s new CTA safety plan dedicates 50 officers to transit patrols

CHICAGO - Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced a new safety plan for the Chicago Transit Authority on Friday that includes dedicating more than 50 police officers to patrolling transit lines.

The plan comes amid a recent wave of crime on CTA trains, including a fatal shooting in a pedestrian tunnel in the Loop, a stabbing on a downtown station platform and a shooting on a Blue Line train at Halsted.

“Public transit is the great connector of our city, and residents and riders deserve a world-class public transportation system that is not only accessible, reliable and affordable, but most importantly safe,”Lightfoot said in a statement.

The safety plan also includes dedicating a group of detectives to focuses solely on CTA crime.

Additionally, Chicago police say they will be launching a new technology-driven Strategic Decision Support Center, which will employ “smart policing technology” that will use the more than 32,000 cameras already installed on CTA property.

“Today’s transit safety enhancements puts Chicago in alignment with other major city transit systems across the country and allows us to leverage technology-based policing that has helped reduce crime and violence in Chicago for the last three years,” interim Supt. Charlie Beck said in the statement.

The CTA operates the second-largest public transit system in the country, with about 1.5 million rides taken on an average weekday.