The Chicago Police Department has boosted patrols on the CTA by deploying officers alongside commuters, and plans are under way to double the number of cameras at train stations, CTA officials said Monday.
Officers formerly assigned to schools have already begun riding trains in highly visible “Wolfpack” teams of four to six members to deter crime, Lt. John Wittenberg said.
The increase in security also includes plainclothes officers who will concentrate on preventing the theft of electronic devices, CTA President Forrest Claypool said as he unveiled the summer initiative.
Initially, school officers not assigned to summer school sessions will be augmenting the police presence. The Department and the CTA declined to say what would happen when school was back in session, but we have a small idea - the force will be scaled back in the hopes that the trouble makers will be in school.
This little tidbit was on the WBBM Newsradio 780 report:
This little tidbit was on the WBBM Newsradio 780 report:
- CTA President Forrest Claypool says more cameras will catch more thugs in the act of committing crimes.
But the cameras will only bear silent witness to the attacks seeing as how they can't actually arrest anyone. Which should be comforting to the victims as they recover from their injuries.