Amy Korte | Executive Vice President | Illinois Policy Institute website
Amy Korte | Executive Vice President | Illinois Policy Institute website
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) has experienced a significant increase in reported crimes, reaching the highest levels since the pandemic. According to data from the Illinois Policy Institute, residents reported 1,356 crimes between October 2023 and September 2024.
On average, more than one crime occurs every three hours on the CTA, with over one in every 100,000 rides resulting in a crime. This calculation is based on an average of 765,566 weekday rides.
Battery was identified as the most common type of crime, followed by deceptive practices such as bait-and-switch schemes or counterfeiting. Despite this increase in crime, CTA ridership remains down by roughly 40% compared to pre-pandemic levels.
The Green Line is particularly affected, with riders being the most likely victims of crime at about 1.9 incidents per 100,000 rides. The stop at 63rd and Ashland in West Englewood is noted as especially problematic. Red Line riders are also significantly impacted with nearly 1.7 incidents per 100,000 rides.
In addition to these figures, the Chicago Police Department (CPD) reported an increase in narcotics-related offenses at stations—121 instances were recorded over the past year.
Patrick Andriesen from the Illinois Policy Institute suggests that reducing low-level crimes like disorderly conduct and fare evasion could help lower serious crimes and bring back riders to the CTA. He advocates for increased police presence at stations—a strategy that has reportedly been successful in other cities.
Currently, about 45% of all crimes reported at CTA stations result in arrests. Security guards employed by the CTA are unable to intervene during ongoing criminal activities and rely on CPD officers for arrests.
Andriesen estimates that hiring one CPD officer for each train station would cost taxpayers $20 million annually but would enable officers to handle threats promptly and improve safety perceptions among passengers.
"City leaders would be wise to reevaluate these costly security contracts that have done little to improve the safety of the public on the CTA," Andriesen stated. "Chicagoans deserve a world-class transit system and to feel safe when using it."
For further information on this issue, readers can visit illin.is/CTAcrime.
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