CHICAGO (WLS) — Cook County Sheriff’s Police are increasing their presence on Chicago Transit Authority trains, a push that has already led to hundreds of arrests and citations. Sheriff Tom Dart says the results also point to a larger question: whether the CTA needs a dedicated transit police force to maintain safety over the long term.
The ABC7 I-Team joined sheriff’s officers this week as they patrolled the Green Line, riding through the West Side and other parts of the route as part of the stepped-up enforcement effort.
24/7. Click here to watch
Lt. Keith McCarter said officers often begin with what may appear to be low-level violations, but those encounters can quickly uncover more serious crimes.
“Sometimes the small things leads to big arrests,” McCarter said. He noted that officers have stopped people for smoking and discovered illegal firearms, and have also found narcotics after confronting people moving between train cars.
The patrols are part of a wider fact-finding initiative overseen by Dart, who has been examining whether public transit in Chicago would be better served by its own law enforcement operation.
Asked if that could mean creating a separate police force for transit, Dart called it “a great question” and said he has begun to believe that a single accountable entity may be necessary. “A dedicated force is probably going to be what’s needed,” he said.
The effort grew out of a transit funding law passed last year. The new patrols began at the end of March, with 50 sworn officers assigned each day to locations where crime trends have been higher, including the CTA’s Red and Blue lines.
The sheriff’s office said the initiative has produced more than 200 arrests so far, including arrests of people wanted on active warrants and those found with weapons, along with hundreds of ordinance citations.
RELATED | Woman attacked on Blue Line shares harrowing story as I-Team analyzes new CTA crime numbers
During one patrol, officers detained a man on the Red Line who appeared to be rolling a joint. After a search, officers said they recovered a loaded firearm. “What is this?” an officer asked in video reviewed by the I-Team. “That’s my 38…” the man replied.
READ MORE: Wives Quietly Embrace Controversial Cosmetic Procedure
He was charged with aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon.
In another case, officers approached a man smoking what appeared to be cannabis on the 79th Street Red Line platform. Body-worn camera video captured officers saying “firearm recovered” after finding a gun in his waistband.
He is now charged with possession of a firearm by a repeat felony offender.
Dart said the conditions riders have faced for years are unacceptable. “I was just blown away at how it had been somewhat normalized, the vast majority using it to get back and forth where you were just having to deal with it, you’re just being subjected to this. This was your normal and that’s wrong. I mean, that’s a failure on all of our parts that that was ever allowed to get there.”
Roughly 20 minutes into the I-Team’s ride, officers detained another man for switching rail cars, a CTA ordinance violation.
After running his name, McCarter said, “radio’s going to come back and confirm he had a valid warrant.” The man was taken into custody.
The sheriff’s office is also deploying social service teams to assist riders experiencing mental health, housing, or substance-related challenges. “We respond on scene and connect individuals to any sort of service they may need,” said Meghann Cherie of the Treatment Response Team. “So whether it’s going to a hospital, getting linked with a psychiatrist, rehab, things like that.”
The stepped-up enforcement comes as the CTA faces federal threats to pull millions in funding and as the state mandates reforms under last year’s transit funding bill. The sheriff’s office said it has spent $3.1 million on the patrols since late March. Funding for any new transit policing entity remains unclear.
Copyright © 2026 WLS-TV. All Rights Reserved.
