Crimes On CTA Down Significantly In 2015
CHICAGO (CBS) -- While Chicago continues to struggle with gun violence in some neighborhoods, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and CTA officials offered a bit of a bright spot, announcing a significant drop in crime on CTA property in 2015.
The mayor said crime on the CTA was down 25 percent last year compared to 2014, and he credited a significant expansion of the agency's security cameras for fueling that progress.
Thefts on the CTA were down 19 percent, and robberies were down 22 percent. Those are the two most common crimes on the CTA. Overall, there were 3,512 crimes reported on CTA property in 2015, compared to 4,691 in 2014.
Officials said since 2011, the CTA has vastly expanded its network of surveillance cameras, with a total of approximately 23,000 cameras on its buses, trains, and platforms; leading to hundreds of arrests.
"The CTA has doubled the number of cameras we have, and the cameras are now located on every bus, train, and at all of our rail stations," CTA President Dorval Carter Jr. said. "Last year, images led to the arrest of 256 individuals who committed crimes on or near CTA. That is an increase of 8 percent over 2014."
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He said the 25 percent drop in crime on the CTA last year is proof criminals have gotten the message they'll be caught if they break the law on the CTA. Among those arrested thanks to CTA cameras last year was a serial pickpocket who had committed at least 21 crimes between May and November multiple CTA stations on the Blue, Brown, Green, and Orange Lines.
Emanuel said crime has dropped on the CTA four years in a row, and is down nearly 50 percent over that time.
"It's because of the fact that, starting back in 2011, we put cameras throughout the system; multiple cameras, and now all the buses also have multiple cameras throughout the system," Emanuel said. "It is that coverage, plus the work of the officers dedicated to the CTA that the ridership of the CTA can have a safe, secure, and reliable ride from home to work, from work to home."
The mayor credited CTA employees and riders for playing a big part in that effort.
"You see some awkward tense situations on the train, so it's always good to know cameras are working, that there is presence to make sure they can help defuse situations when they happen," CTA rider Micah Berryhill said.
Fellow commuter Kyle Woltersdorf said he'll probably ride the CTA more now that he's heard about the drop in crime.
The city did not share numbers on sexual assaults on the CTA, but officials said serious crime is very rare on public transit, averaging 7 incidents for every 10 million rides last year.
