Today, Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke and CTA Acting President Nora Leerhsen announced the roll out of a new initiative to help deter crime on the CTA – the installation of more than 7,000 signs on buses and trains that highlight the CCSAO’s policy of seeking pretrial detention for violent felonies committed on public transit.
"In order to have a safe and thriving city, we need to have a safe public transportation system,” said State's Attorney Burke. “The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office is committed to doing everything we can to make our public transportation system the safest in the nation. We are putting up these signs to show how seriously we take these cases and to reinforce the consequences offenders will face for bringing violence onto the CTA.”
As part of the campaign, signs will be placed on every vehicle in CTA’s fleet, which includes more than 1,500 railcars and nearly 2,000 buses. The signs reflect the detention policy that SA Burke announced on her first day in office and send a clear message: there is no place for violent crime on our public transit systems. SA Burke and President Leerhsen recently joined forces to put up the first signs together.
“Everyone deserves a safe and welcoming transit environment. These signs are a message to riders and employees that we're working together to ensure transit safety is prioritized at every step,” said CTA Acting President Leerhsen. “More than ever before, we're investing in new strategies to ensure appropriate resources are available to riders and that action is taken to keep your journey safe.”
The signs read:
“Violence on the CTA will not be tolerated. The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office will prosecute and seek pretrial detention for all violent offenses on public transit.”
The signage campaign follows the launch of SA Burke’s Regional Transit Task Force (RTTF) in May 2026, a collaborative effort bringing together local, county, federal, and transit agencies to strengthen safety across Chicago-area transit systems. RTTF participants include representatives from the CCSAO, the Chicago Police Department, CTA, Cook County Sheriff’s Office, Metra, and Pace.
The CCSAO also established an internal CTA task force, which focuses on effective prosecutions of transit-related crime in Chicago. With guidance from the CTA and CPD, this internal task force has trained more than 30 Assistant State’s Attorneys on video technology available to support law enforcement investigations and how it can be presented in court as evidence.
These efforts convey SA Burke’s commitment to making public transit safer. Since she assumed office on Dec. 1, 2024, the CCSAO has approved felony charges in 483 cases involving transit-related crime and obtained pretrial detention 83% of the time. From 2025 to 2026, overall crime has plummeted by 30% on every form of public transit – buses, bus stops, garages/lots/properties, platforms/stations/tracks, and trains – with a 76% drop in violent crime on the Red Line.
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