Report: CTA Red Line Targeted Most By Criminals
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Passengers on the CTA Red Line may want to be more alert, as new research says it's the line most targeted by criminals.
As WBBM Newsradio's Brandis Friedman reports, the research shows crimes against Chicago Transit Authority customers happen mostly in the downtown area, and throughout the Red Line.
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The Chicago Tribune analyzed city data from 2009 through June 13 of this year, and found that the Roosevelt stop serving the Green and Orange lines at elevated level, and the Red Line at subway level, is the number one stop for rail crime.
The Red Line is not alone in being a target for crimes such as robbery, theft and battery, but the Tribune data show crime was also pervasive on the Forest Park branch of the Blue Line – which runs through the city's West Side in the middle of the Eisenhower Expressway –and the Green Line, which serves the South and West sides and Oak Park.
Comparatively, crime is low on the Brown Line, the O'Hare Blue Line branch, the Orange Line to Midway International Airport, and the Pink Line, which passes through Pilsen, Little Village and North Lawndale, the Tribune reported.
The Tribune analysis found there were 217 crimes at the Roosevelt station in the time period covered. The second worst station for crime was the 95th/Dan Ryan the Red Line terminal with 199 crimes, the 69th Street Red Line stop with 166, the 79th Street Red Line stop with 151, the Pulaski Green Line stop with 139, and the Chicago Avenue Red Line stop with 108.
On buses, problems were clustered in certain parts of the South and West sides, the Tribune reported.
Chicago Police have refused to identify high-crime locations in the past, saying it is a sensitive issue.
