Chicago boosts transit police presence after renewed federal funding cut
threat over crime
[December 20, 2025]
By JOHN O'CONNOR
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Chicago Transit Authority bolstered
security on the public transport system Friday, a day after President
Donald Trump's administration repeated its threat to withhold $50
million in federal funding if it didn't deliver a more aggressive
crime-cutting plan.
The Chicago Police Department increased its daily presence on the city's
transit system by 56%, from 77 to 120 officers. Private security K-9
units will jump 10% to 188.
A day earlier, the Federal Transit Administration delivered a letter to
CTA President Nora Leerhsen demanding a more comprehensive plan for
reducing crime than the one it submitted last Monday, chiding the CTA
for failing to target significant drops in each of the next six months
and ordering that a planned security “surge” be implemented immediately.
The administration demanded a crackdown after 26-year-old Bethany MaGee
was doused with gasoline and set afire on a city L train in November.
Federal prosecutors have charged 50-year-old Lawrence Reed of Chicago
with a terrorist attack, which carries a maximum life sentence.
In Thursday's letter, the administration said the CTA's plan failed to
meet federal demands that it set targets for fewer assaults of staff and
riders for each of the next six months and to increase security. It said
CTA monthly goals for limiting assaults on staff and riders were
identical for January through March.
“By proposing flat targets for the entire first quarter of the Dec. 15
plan, CTA has failed to set targets showing reductions for ‘each’ month
as ordered,” Federal Transit Administration chief Marcus Molinaro wrote.
Molinaro added that the agency “requires full implementation of the
security surge” so that “the impact of increased law enforcement
presence should be immediate” and evident in crime-cut targets going
forward.
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A train pulls into the Clark Street and Lake Street Blue Line stop,
Nov. 18, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley, File)
The CTA has 90 days to satisfy the federal government's demands or
go without funding.
CTA spokesperson Catherine Hosinski would not comment on ongoing
discussions with federal officials, but she noted that the transit
system's budget approved in early November included $5 million for
increased security.
The surge increases the presence of Chicago police officers who
volunteer for the duty on their days off. It is in addition to
regular police patrol of CTA property.
Chicago police officers “are at the core of CTA’s multilayered
security strategy,” Leerhsen said in a statement. “We expect the
additional police and K-9 presence on our system to further increase
security visibility.”
According to police, the number of violent crimes reported at CTA
locations in 2025 through Thursday was 933, down 18 from 2024.
A statewide transit overhaul signed into law by Gov. JB Pritzker on
Tuesday pumps $1.5 billion more into public transport annually and
includes long-range safety and security initiatives.
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