A new CTA “security surge” plan will go into effect Friday, according to an announcement, with “dozens” of additional Chicago police officers and private K-9 security guards expected to be deployed to the public transit system.
The announcement, sent Thursday afternoon, comes after several recent violent incidents on CTA property, including a woman being set on fire on a Blue Line train in the Loop, and another doused in liquid on a bus. It also comes after the Federal Transit Administration sent a letter to Chicago officials threatening to withhold federal funds if CTA leaders did not take immediate action on a safety plan.
According to the announcement, the number of Chicago police officers deployed to patrol CTA’s bus and rail system will increase from an average of 77 to 120 per day. The officers, the announcement said, are part of the department’s Voluntary Special Employment Program, or VSEP.
Under the program, sworn Chicago police officers can sign up to patrol the CTA on their days off. Those officers are in addition to CPD’s current Public Transportation Section and District police officers, the announcement said.
The surge also includes increasing private K-9 staffing, from an average of 172 canine security guards per day to 188, CTA said.
“CPD officers are at the core of CTA’s multilayered security strategy and I value our partnership with Superintendent Snelling and his staff as we continue our longstanding commitment to keep our riders safe,” CTA Acting President Nora Leerhsen said in the announcement. “We expect the additional police and K-9 presence on our system to further increase security visibility.”
The announcement, citing Chicago police data, said crimes on the CTA are down by 3% in 2025 compared to last year, and crime in November was down 19% over last year.
The CTA and CPD say that the deployment will be guided by crime data and CTA system information, but did not offer more clarity on where officers would be sent.
Some riders told NBC Chicago they were skeptical of the plan, questioning whether police will board trains or stay on the platform.
“They can’t catch everything when the train is stopping for 10 seconds. That doesn’t stop anything,” one CTA rider to NBC 5’s Randy Gyllenhaal. “People smoking on trains, doing what not, and it’s happening on the train. You’re not really able to wind down on your way home, you just have to be aware of your surroundings.”
It wasn’t immediately clear where on CTA property officers and K-9s would be stationed, and the agency did not immediately respond to NBC Chicago.
In a press release issued Friday morning, the FDA said the CTA’s plan “fails to address the high rate of assaults and other crimes against passengers and transit employees across CTA’s system, as it did not include targets that effectively reduce assaults and other crimes.”
The release the agency must submit a new plan within 90 days that shows a “more aggressive crime reduction targets and countermeasures to restore safety for passengers and workers,” or face as much as $50 million in federal funds withheld.
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