CTA Addresses Crime with Enhanced Security Plan

3/16/2026

Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) sent the FTA a Revised Security Enhancement Plan that will increase monthly system policing hours by 75 percent. It includes aggressive crime reduction targets and expanded social service support. Created in collaboration with the Chicago Police Department and Cook County Sheriff’s Office, the plan responds to an FTA directive for the agency to take corrective actions to reduce assaults and other crimes.

CTA Acting President Nora Leerhsen explains, “As part of its holistic approach to security, CTA is significantly increasing policing hours through the Chicago Police Department’s Public Transit Section and off-duty policing program, and the Cook County Sheriff’s Police Department has been engaged to bring their officers onto CTA. CTA is also expanding social service support, from introducing mental health teams to funding shelter beds for the unhoused and investing in technology that supports the officers that patrol the system.”

Chicago Police Department Superintendent Larry Snelling said the plan builds on efforts over the past year to hold criminal offenders accountable through increased police presence, a Public Transit Strategic Decision Support Center, and specialized transit crime investigations.

Specifically, the plan includes:

  • 75 percent more monthly policing hours across the system
  • Transit Rider Interaction Program (TRIP) missions in which officers board and inspect trains; police will also patrol bus routes and stops in high-crime areas
  • Enhanced social services and crisis intervention for unhoused riders and trained staff to de-escalate mental health and behavioral crises
  • Fare evasion mitigation efforts such as testing new barrier gates, farecard inspection, the use of data tracking tools, and public messaging
  • AI-technology to detect weapons
  • Partnerships with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Officeand Project Safe Neighborhoods, a federally funded initiative that brings together federal, state, and local law enforcement and other stakeholders to address violent crime within a community

The plan will be reviewed by FTA. In the meantime, the agency has seen positive results from its initial security surge, including a reduction in transit worker assaults and systemwide crime.