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Chicago police data shows at the same time transit system
arrests have dropped, overall violent crime across the system
hit its second-highest level since 2015 in the 12 months ending
in July. Riders reported 2,893 crimes or 2.7 transgressions for
every 100,000 riders.
Ford, D-Chicago, said the government’s growing funding threats
only stand to exacerbate the problem.
“This government clearly has decided to take a position of
cutting funds because of crime, but they’ve cut funds to reduce
funding for housing, for substance abuse, for crime prevention,”
Ford told The Center Square. “When you have the federal
government cutting funds for safety net programs and at the same
time saying that we need to reduce crime they're actually
playing a role in making sure that people don't have the
resources they need. You had a federal government that used to
be a partner, now the federal government is the enemy and that's
impacting all of Illinois.”
With less than 1-in-5 of all such crimes ending in arrest, data
highlights most of the carnage was concentrated in the same
areas of the city, topped by the South Side’s Red Line at over
3.5 transgressions out of every 100,000 riders.
While the most common crime reported was battery, statistics
also show at least four murders took place on CTA property.
“The violence that they're experiencing comes from societal
problems that's created by not supporting people in poverty,”
Ford said. “We need to address why the violence is taking place
and we know poverty is one of the factors. We need to meet the
needs of the people, and you will see that crime will go down.”
With all the questions about funding and the system’s 2026
budget proposal calling for an additional $130 million in
spending, CTA officials are already considering the system’s
first fare hike in seven years at as much as a 25-cents increase
to base bus and rail fares.
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