Cook County State's Attorney launches new task force to fight crime on Chicago area's mass transit system

Cook County State's Attorney Eileen O'Neill Burke on Monday announced a new task force dedicated to fighting crime on the Chicago area's mass transit system.

O'Neill Burke, Chicago Transit Authority bosses, and other local leaders said the task force will strengthen prosecution and make the system safer.

"We need to have a safe public transportation system," O'Neill Burke said.

The new Regional Transit Task Force is a partnership between her office, the Cook County Sheriff's Office, the Chicago Police Department, CTA, Metra, Pace, and several federal agencies, including the U.S. Attorney's Office, FBI, DEA, and ATF.

"We are committed to continue collaboration with the Cook County State's Attorney's office and all of our law enforcement partners to reduce crime on the CTA," said Cook County Sheriff's Chief of Police Arthur Jackson.

CTA Acting President Nora Leerhsen called the task force an unprecedented collaborative move to fight transit-related crime across Chicago and Cook County.

"We cannot let up on the work to ensure safety on CTA," she said.

While there was a focus on where transit crime has declined, with a drop in overall violent crime, both aggravated batteries and criminal sexual assaults are up.

"There are two ways to deter crime; the likelihood of being caught and the likelihood of being punished. By working with law enforcement, we are upping the likelihood in both scenarios," O'Neill Burke said.

O'Neill Burke said the formation of the task force should send a message to public transit users who don't have confidence in the safety of the system. 

"We have heard you, we share your concerns, and we are doing everything we possibly can to make this the safest big city in America, and that starts with our trains system," she said.

One of the task force's priorities will be dealing with repeat violent offenders on the system. O'Neill Burke said they will work to keep violent offenders in jail while their cases continue in court to prevent repeat crimes.

"First of all, we will ask for detention, and we will put forward every single basis we can on what the basis for believing that person is a danger," she said.

The Trump administration has threatened to pull funding from the CTA if safety does not improve.

The recent arrest of Lanell Fields does not help the CTA's reputation. Fields is accused of hijacking a No. 53 Pulaski Road bus at knifepoint early Wednesday of last week.

Sources said the CTA employee was forced to drive seven miles off course before Fields escaped out of a window.

But as scary as the headline was, CTA said it's not a reflection of overall safety on the city's public transit. CTA data shows crime is down, and Acting President Nora Leerhsen attributes some of that decrease to recently beefed-up patrols by Chicago police and Cook County Sheriff's deputies.

"Notably, the positive trends are concentrated in areas where we are specifically sending resources in a targeted, data informed way," she said.

A recent CTA safety plan called for a 75% increase in police patrols on buses and trains. That bump includes more hours from Chicago police Public Transit officers, doubling CTA assignments for off-duty officers, and bringing in Cook County Sheriff's deputies.

The new internal taskforce is made up of nearly 40 assistant states' attorneys and investigations. They will undergo training with CTA and CPD to access digital evidence, video and more.

Private security companies are not part of new CTA efforts. A few weeks ago, the CTA canceled contracts for hundreds of unarmed guards, replacing them with police patrols.