Chicago Police Robbery Task Force works with transit unit to fight crime on CTA
The Chicago Police Robbery Task Force addressed its progress for the first time this week, nearly a year after the formation of the unit was first announced.
The task force is working with other CPD teams to crack down on crime across the city — most recently the Public Transportation Section.
Cameras are rolling on every section of Chicago's transit system, and the technology just helped get a crew off the streets — thanks to the combined efforts of the Robbery Task Force and the Public Transportation Section. This represents just one example of the work the unit has been doing for about a year now.
CBS News Chicago has been tracking robberies — many of them violent — on Chicago Transit Authority property for years. People have been held at gunpoint and knifepoint, and shaken down on public transit.
"These offenders are shooting people, killing people, and traumatizing even the survivors," said CPD Robbery Task Force Lt. Timothy Hawkins. "I take it personally."
CBS News Chicago sat down with the task force created to address the problem. Hawkins explained the crisis being caused by robbery in Chicago.
"Robbery has been found to be the second most traumatizing crime," he said. "Seeing my fellow Chicagoans afraid to get gas at night, afraid to ride the train, afraid to engage in normal life? That is a motivator for myself and for the detectives and the sergeants on the task force."
The robbery task force has brought together the Chicago Police bureaus of counterterrorism, patrol, and detectives.
"We are involved with federal prosecution now," added Hawkins. "We are able to go into those financial follow-up investigations."
CBS News Chicago took a closer look at the numbers, and while the data showed surging robberies for years, the latest city figures show the crimes are down.
According to data from the Chicago Violence Reduction Dashboard, violent crime is down 24% so far this year compared with the same time period last year.
Carjackings are down 56%, deadly shootings 23%, and non-fatal shootings, 35%, the data show.
The data track a 37% decrease in robberies through Wednesday, April 23, compared to this timeframe last year — 1,000 fewer incidents according to the task force, and fewer victims.
"That's an enormous number of people who have not had a gun put in their face, been traumatized," Hawkins said. "I wish we could do more, you know? We've done quite a bit, but the ideal number of robberies is zero."
The new CPD strategic plan just announced describes an emphasis on expanding partnerships between units. This includes more close work between the Robbery Task Force and the Public Transportation Section.
"We have more of a support staff now," said Detective Ray Verta of the CPD Public Transportation Section Bureau of Detectives. "Working together to bring a meaningful success to these victims that probably had the most traumatic thing happen to them while on a train or a bus."
Detective Verta has more than 30 years on the force. He just worked with the task force to get a crew targeting people on the CTA Blue Line off the streets.
"The offenders would pull a gun on them or beat them until they gave up their property," said Verta.
Inside the CPD's Strategic Decision Support Center, detectives and analysts work together to monitor about 40,000 CTA cameras 24/7, every day of the year.
The support center played a major role in the case Detective Verta was talking about. Three teenage boys — 18-year-old Jeremiah Burns of Chicago's West Side, and two 17-year-olds — were arrested and charged with felony armed robbery, robbery, and vehicular hijacking.
They targeted victims along the Blue Line across the city for weeks throughout the month of March. The robberies happened at the following times and locations"
- The Kedzie Avenue Blue Line stop along the Eisenhower Expressway, Wednesday, March 12.
- The Western Avenue Blue Line stop along the Eisenhower, Thursday, March 13, and Thursday, March 20.
- The Racine Avenue Blue Line stop along the Eisenhower, Friday, March 21.
Police said in the one incident on Friday, March 21, the robbers held up two people on the Blue Line, used one of the victims' stolen phones to order a rideshare, took the rideshare to their destination on Grenshaw Street near Central Park Avenue, and then carjacked the rideshare driver and robbed him of his wallet.
CBS News Chicago is told their quick arrests are an example of the work on which the Robbery Task Force is focused on day in and day out.
Hawkins was asked what he would say to the person who feels not enough is being done to keep people safe in Chicago — whether on the CTA or the streets.
"I would assure people we are doing everything we can," Hawkins said. "The City of Chicago has prioritized the robbery investigations."
The task force has a message to the crews still out there.
"We will not stop looking for you," Hawkins said.
