The head of the CTA bus driver’s union is skeptical the CTA’s latest effort to reduce crime on buses and trains will work.
The CTA plans to more than double the number of unarmed private security guards patrolling the buses and rails, up over 200.
The CTA and city said those guards will even enforce the CTA’s Rules of Conduct that include dealing with people who smoke or play loud radios.
But Amalgamated Transit Union Local 241 president Keith Hill said, “My fear is confrontation. When you ask a person to cut a radio down, they might take offense.”
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Hill said a lot of people are carrying weapons on buses and trains from ice picks to real guns.
He said last week, “We had a young man who got on a Fullerton bus. He was so loaded that he went to sleep. While he went to sleep, he dropped a gun, a 9mm with a 100-round clip.” Hill said the man was arrested.
Hill said the system is a joke, however, because prosecutors don’t press felony charges and make them stick. He said the system should be set as it is for anyone who attacks a passenger or crew member aboard an airline.
“It’s automatic felony charges. You don’t pass “Go”. You’re going to serve some time in jail. it’s a joke right now.”
Hill said the CTA’s effort is a good gesture but is “not even a Band-Aid on a gaping hole.” He said, “I just don’t think it’s a fix. Maybe some type of presence will deter some, but not many.”
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And, even though the private security guards will undergo de-escalation training, Hill said, “Now you’re sending an unarmed person up to them to say, ‘Hey, put that cigarette out.’ They don’t have a gun. They don’t have arresting power. Where’s the fear?”
Hill also said riders who commit crimes on buses and trains mock the judicial system and feel that, even if they’re arrested, they’ll be back on the street the next day with little fear of doing prison time.
The bus driver union president would still like to see the CTA have its own 200-member police force.
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