Crime on the L, CTA Trains and Buses Rise, 90 Percent Goes Unsolved

The level of serious crime on CTA L Trains and buses has been rising in recent months in Chicago, concerning commuters. The level of unsolved crime has also made headlines after hitting 90 percent.

Serious crime overall on the CTA in Chicago rose 16 percent last year, fueled by thefts of cellphones and other items, reported the Sun-Times.

Public transport also saw some more serious crimes. An analysis from the start of 2015 through April 2017 found the most serious transit-related crimes in the city occurred on the L trains.

Since the start of 2015, police recorded 1,906 so-called “index crimes,” including killings, robberies, rapes, and burglaries.

In 2016, a woman was stabbed to death on a CTA Red Line train. Witnesses said a man stabbed his girlfriend repeatedly.

Jessica Hampton, 25, was stabbed in the neck while riding a southbound train near the 47th Street station following an argument, apparently, over a child, investigators said.

Arthur Jones, a 29-year-old man arrested for the killing on the CTA Red Line train was reported to be suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. Cook County public defenders said he had been living at a nursing home to address his mental health issues, the Sun-Times reported.

The low clear-up rate of crimes on trains and buses was apparent in the recent reports.

The Sun-Times noted 2,007 serious crimes occurred at L stations and bus stops and on CTA trains and buses last year.

Just 134 of them have been solved, with arrests made, according to records provided by the Chicago Police Department, which patrols the city’s part mass transit system — a 6.7 percent crimes-solved rate.

The bulk of crimes reported on public transportation were classified as “larceny-theft”. Police noted — 3,101 of these crimes on CTA trains and the bus systems over just over two years. Of the 1,442 thefts in 2016, 2.6 percent were solved.

City police said they are aiming to step up law enforcement on public transport. Police said efforts are being made across the city that include providing additional training to detectives in finding and processing video surveillance footage from trains and buses.

However, the report noted CTA doesn’t keep statistics on offenses that occur in the suburbs on buses or trains or at stations.

If you have been accused of a crime on Chicago’s trains or buses, the evidence against you may be flimsy. Please call Abdallah Law at (312) 229-0008.