Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke announced the creation of the office’s Regional Transit Task Force (RTTF), a collaborative effort bringing together local, county, federal, and transit agencies to strengthen public safety across Chicago-area transit systems.

“Everyone deserves to feel safe and secure on public transit,” said O’Neill Burke. “This task force brings law enforcement and transit partners together to share intelligence, deter transit-related crime, and improve public safety better to protect riders, transit workers, and our communities.”

Working to Make Transit Safer

The RTTF will convene regularly, with its first meeting scheduled for May 26. Participants include representatives from the CCSAO, the Chicago Police Department, CTA, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI, the ATF, the DEA, Metra, and Pace.

"The formation of this task force marks a historic moment as CTA expands and builds upon its security strategy," said CTA Acting President Nora Leerhsen. "This is an unprecedented partnership that brings together local, county, and federal law enforcement to work alongside every major transit agency in the Chicago region. Our message is simple: Law enforcement at every level is working in tandem with CTA to ensure a vibrant, thriving future for public transit."

The RTTF follows the formation of the CCSAO’s internal CTA task force, which focuses on effective prosecutions of transit-related crime in Chicago.

As part of that effort, Assistant State’s Attorneys receive specialized training from the CTA and CPD on video technology available to support law enforcement investigations, and that can be presented in court as evidence.