Overview
- Starting Friday, CPD staffing on the CTA will rise from an average of 77 officers per day to about 120 through the Voluntary Special Employment overtime program.
- Private security presence will increase from an average of 172 K-9/security guards per day to 188 across trains, buses, and platforms.
- City officials say deployments will be guided by combined CTA–CPD crime data, system trends, and daily intelligence, with CPD highlighting an updated transit decision support center.
- The surge follows an FTA order requiring a security enhancement plan with mid-December milestones and a warning that federal transit funds could be withheld for noncompliance.
- Officials have not said how long the surge will last, and recent data show reported violent incidents on CTA properties are slightly lower than last year.