Driving a taxi sits among the most dangerous occupations, according to federal statistics, and seems to consistently snag a spot on lists of most stressful jobs. Cab drivers work long hours while scanning the streets for potential passengers and dealing with road rage--and perhaps most importantly facing the possibility of getting attacked in their taxis.
"It's not a good feeling to have a gun to your head," said Santanu Bose, 41, a cab driver who lives in Rogers Park. He said he's been robbed twice while working the night shift since becoming a licensed cab driver in 2000. "It did shake me up quite a lot for a few weeks."
For the 12,000 licensed taxicab drivers in Chicago, safety is at the top of their minds. So far this year, nearly 300 crimes were reported in cabs, averaging about one crime a day. This year saw a slight increase in the number of reported crimes as well as a spike in serious crimes of batteries and robberies, the latter of which doubled compared with the same period last year. Four armed robberies prompted Chicago police to issue business alerts this summer. No homicides have been reported in taxicabs in 2014.
The combination of isolation, picking up strangers and carrying cash makes taxi drivers a target for criminals, crime experts said, particularly during the busy hours of 1 a.m., 2 a.m. and 3 a.m., when many crimes occurred in 2014 compared with other time periods, according to city crime data.
The early morning time slot was high risk because there are intoxicated passengers and fewer people on the street to witness the crimes or hear calls for help, said Arthur Lurigio, psychology and criminal justice professor at Loyola University Chicago.
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A 2008 University of Illinois at Chicago survey found that 58.7 percent of Chicago cab drivers said they have been threatened, attacked and subjected to hostile racial comments. During physical attacks inside the cabs, guns were the weapons most used against drivers, followed by knives, according to survey results.
The survey also revealed that roughly half of the drivers who said they were attacked while driving reported the incident to police.
Lurigio speculated that some drivers may be reluctant to report incidents because they believe the police can do nothing or they think filing a report would take them out of circulation and cost them fares.
Syed Ali, instructor of Olive-Harvey College's two-week chauffeur training program, encouraged drivers to report any incident--even if it's calling 311 to report a non-emergency situation as they're heading home. Ali says he covers personal safety during the program because it's a big concern among cab drivers, who are perceived to be "walking ATM machines."
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Carrying cash is one of the factors that makes being a cab driver a high-risk job. Compared with other occupations, they face a higher likelihood of being slain on the job. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which studied the effectiveness of taxicab security equipment, said the taxicab driver homicide rate was 7.4 per 100,000 workers in 2010, compared with the overall 0.37 per 100,000 workers. The same study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine last year, found that the installation of in-vehicle security cameras appears to be effective in reducing that number.
In Chicago, security device--either a safety shield or security cameras--are required to be installed and inspected, said Mika Stambaugh, spokeswoman for the city's Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection. The only exception is if the taxicab owner is the sole cab driver and the vehicle is not leased out to other drivers.
Other required equipment includes two-way dispatch devices that allow drivers to be in communication with taxi dispatch companies at all times the cab is in operation, Stambaugh said. New taxicabs must install rear seat credit card machines, which can minimize the contact between cab drivers and passengers, she said.
"Credit card transactions for payment of taxicab fares decrease the amount [of] cash on a taxicab driver, making them less [of a] target for robbery," Stambaugh said.
Uber, which allows passengers to order cabs or rideshare vehicles, touted its business practices in helping keep its drivers safe. For example, drivers can rate riders and don't pick up random strangers through the app because users have to create profiles and provide valid credit cards to use the service.
"Every transaction is cashless, so drivers never have to worry about the risk or hassle of carrying cash or making change," an Uber spokeswoman said in an email.
One recommendation by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration to reduce work-related violence was to promote the use of credit card payments and limit the amount of cash in the taxi, which can discourage robberies.
However, if a robber demands cash or cellphones from the driver, Ali said to follow the instructions and stay calm, cool and collected.
"Never ever resist. Don't try to be a hero. It's not worth it," Ali said. "You have only one life. You want to go home the way you came into work. Don't go home in a body bag."