Cook County Sheriff Security Walkthrough @ Forest Park Terminal

   
Pictured ATU Local 308 Union President
Pennie McCoach 

This week has been an interesting week for me and as I type this up.. I cant help but think, WOW!! 

At 9pm, We met up with the Cook County Sheriff Task Force at Forest Park Terminal and we had a mini Town Hall with my fellow coworkers and some of my E-Board Members and Top Union Officers. They told us that CTA is in for some changes on how we do security overall and the Technology that will be rolled out is state of the art.  

As we wrapped up the Town Hall in the Forest Park Breakroom, I couldn't help but notice that as we walked up the stairs to the Forest Park Platform, The Cook County Sheriffs, were very tentative and focused and immediately noticed that as my Fellow Switch Workers was clearing the train in the North Pocket, the Homeless was scattering to the South Pocket. When they saw them go from one train to another,  They asked me, " Is this Normal?" I replied, " ALL THE TIME." 

As we rode along, they asked us about our experiences and we told them what they noticed in our ride along that they encounter a lot of is Drug Activity and a lot of Mental Illness. We told them that in the Pandemic we noticed a lot of Violence against us and it was happening to us on a daily basis and now they public is just brazen in their acts towards my Co-Workers.  

As I was explaining my story to the Sheriffs, 

It Happened.......

Someone actually challenged the Cook County Sheriffs in the station.. in the middle of my testimonial, A 10-86 aka "Disturbance in Progress" with them seeing it. I was like Oh man, Lets see how they respond. I was honestly surprised that they just watched them and then grabbed the guy and was like "go back around and pay your fare" at the Pulaski Congress Station. 

In all my years working for CTA, I've never seen any police activity that is effective because of Former Mayor Jane Byrne, cutting the CTA Police Force in the 1980s and when I was a teenager, there used to be actual undercover CPD patrolling the trains and actually grabbed them while it was in progress and this program was disbanded. Sheriffs also disclosed to us that their audits of CPD was terrible in their response time in responding to Emergencies. 

While I hope that this ride along was successful, I know that this is all a start of when NITA takes over that the change happens.. June 1st cant honestly come soon enough and hopefully these attacks on my coworkers ceases and we can finally work in peace.  

Credit: Sister Vanessa Garcia ATU Local 308 Union Steward 






Comments

  1. Brother Eric, Local 308 Union StewardMarch 19, 2026 at 9:48 PM

    Idiot CTA managers schedule maximum consist during non-peak hours. This invites vagrancy. Policing the homeless will be be like catching water. Arrest the CTA mismanagers for cutting jobs, wearing out the vehicles and making stupid scheduling decisions!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMarch 20, 2026 at 11:19 AM

    Great read. Change is on the way! Love that they actually enforced the fare for a change.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMarch 20, 2026 at 7:49 PM

    The former Local 241 Cta Police did not patrol the trains but concentrated on patrolling Cta Property due to its limited personnel and expansiveness of the Rail and Bus System. Likewise, the same improbability exists to the 150 member Chicago Police Mass Transit Unit assigned to Cta Bus and Rail to do so. Nonetheless the loudest squeak gets the oil. Looking forward to the continuation of your blog.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousApril 2, 2026 at 5:07 PM

    How much came out of my pocket for taxes to pay these guys for stuff they know already. You're walking around riding on trains like you really concerned 😟.

    PLEASE MISS ME WITH THIS HYPOCRISY. A BUNCH OF HYPOCRITES.

    Waste of time, money and resources.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brother Eric, Local 308 Union StewardApril 2, 2026 at 9:00 PM

      It’s better use to arrest the mismanagers who promote crime by running empty rail cars on late nigh schedules.

      Delete

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