The burgeoning crime on Chicago's famed El trains, as well as its buses are threatening to be as much a political issue for the beleaguered mayor, Lori Lightfoot, as snow was for former Mayor Bilandic, when he was unseated by mayoral candidate Jane Byrne, as the snow piled on city streets engulfing the city, and stranded motorists, bringing the city to a standstill.
While crime was has not been unknown on the system, the nation’s second largest, in the last several months, it has increased to an annual increase of 17 percent, and with the recent attack on local WTTW TV host Will Clinger, the attention has come at a time when many businesses are encouraging at least a partial return to offices in the city's business section, the Loop, as well as an increase in business, as employers have ramped up both production and a growing need for workers.
Many of those workers, especially in a city where car ownership is a luxury, and many low and middle income income workers depend on public transportation, to get to and from work.
While some have suggested that armed police are the answer, others have said that this would be a detriment to the homeless population who depend on it for overnight shelter, while others cite the problem of racial profiling; and, while the mayor and police superintendent, David Brown, have announced a partnership with unarmed guards, trained to deescalate tense situations, others have pooh poohed the idea as unworkable.
There have been long standing issues with crime on CTA trains, for years, but now it has also spread to buses, where last summer, a man riding in broad daylight on a bus, in the River North area, (a gentrified neighborhood), was stabbed by a woman, later determined to be mentally ill.
Lightfoot had promised to open the mental health clinics closed by her predecessor, Rahm Emanuel, but this was not done, and private contractors have assumed the work, only in a partial sense, for some, but for many trying to make appointments has resulted in unanswered phones.
Various social service agencies, hampered by the Covid pandemic, have struggled to fill the void, for the willing, but many cases of mentally ill people remain undiagnosed, and out of reach.
Crime on the trains, includes murders, robberies, assaults, including sexual assaults, has escalated with less eyes and ears, due to rider shortage, after the Covid lockdowns, a 50 percent reduction, and those that can work remotely have done so, or the well heeled have driven to appointments, leaving certain populations vulnerable: students, older adults and the working poor.
Many residents are blaming Lightfoot for her perceived inaction to tackle the crime problem, and some have vowed never to vote for her in the next election. And, she recently, and paradoxically said,, “The CTA is safe.”
Theft, of course, seems to be the primary goal, in these assaults, and smartphones, like Clinger’s, can fetch $200 on the average, from a disreputable dealer, fencing stolen goods. And, in his case, they are often accompanied by accomplices who can intervene, or help in the attacks with broken bottles, pipes, and fists, and as he stated in later interviews, were also present, while he persued the perpetrator.
He was hit in the head, and has subsequently suffered intracranial bleeding.
While the problem is mainly seen on the Red Line, the Blue Line, the lead path to and from the city, via O’Hare airport has also seen its share of crime. While many erroneously blame the homeless for the problem, they too are often victimized, when they just want to sleep for a few hours, and avoid shelters that are often violent, even if they are open, and have beds.
The situation has intensified to the point where Sen. Dick Durbin (D) of Illinois and US Rep Jesus “Chuy” Garcia wrote a letter to the CTA, and they said, in part:
“While we appreciate the efforts that both the CTA and Chicago Police Department recently have made to increase passenger and employee safety on trains and buses throughout the CTA’s network, more needs to be done to protect CTA’s frontline workers and passengers given the alarming increase in crime on the CTA system,”
A local station, ABC 7, reported their response, "saying the safety and security of CTA customers and employees is its number one priority,”. that many viewers felt was inadequate, as well as evasive.
Brown, widely criticized for his handling of the city’s racial protests, following the murder of George Floyd, said on Monday, “"We still need to add more resources to our downtown to our CTA as well as to all of our city"
Lightfoot had also noted, at the same time, that, “Though we are proud to have one of the best transit systems in the country, that reputation and everything we're doing to keep it will mean nothing if CTA customers don't feel safe taking public transportation," and, "Violence on our transit system must end, as people shouldn't have to fear for their lives when they're commuting around our city. This partnership between CTA and CPD will help to protect them and contribute greatly to our citywide mission to create a safer Chicago."
Things then went from bad to worse when on the far North Side, at the Granville station, a train conductor was pushed overboard, and onto the tracks, by a passenger claiming that he had dropped his phone on the tracks. Shocking as it was, there was also shock as it happened out of the hotspot of the Loop, where much of the CTA crime has occurred, notably the Roosevelt stop.
Block Club Chicago noted the fears of CTA workers when they reported one of the workers who said, of the perps,“They say, ‘I’m going to kill you,’ ‘I’m going to shoot you,’ ‘I’m going to stab you.’ All the time,” said the employee, who has been with the CTA for over 20 years. “I’m leaving in a few years, but the way things are set up right now, I don’t know if I will get out of here alive. That’s just how bad it is.”
Taking a look at some of the recent train related numbers, we can see 205 in the Loop, 61, in the River North [double check this], 40 in Roseland, and 32 in Rogers Park, to name but a few.
While Chicago is not often thought of as a college town, it is the home of the University of Chicago, Roosevelt University, The University of Illinois at Chicago, the City Colleges of Chicago, whose students often use the CTA, and DePaul University, whose Lincoln Park campus abuts the Red line at the Fullerton stop has now faced a dilemma.
The DePaul student, paper in its online forum noted the increase of CTA crime, they also reported that, "Further findings discovered that 45 of these 285 crimes occurred in the immediate vicinity of DePaul campuses, taking place on the Fullerton platform, Jackson station and platforms and trains at either location”
The school has two campuses, one near Fullerton, and the other, downtown, near Jackson.
“The 45 occurrences at these locations are up 165 percent from the 17 reported during this period in 2020. This surge comes as no surprise to DePaul students who regularly feel uneasy commuting aboard the CTA.
“There’s always something going on,” said sophomore Gabby Iwanska. “I’m a girl in the city, and [safety] is always on our minds. I know a lot of my female friends refuse to even ride the Red Line.”
