Serious crimes on the CTA, including thefts and robberies, declined 26 percent last year compared to 2013, the transit agency and Mayor Emanuel announced in a press release Tuesday, just one week before the Feb. 24 mayoral election.
Robberies were down 34 percent last year systemwide while thefts were down 26 percent, according to the agency, which did not provide hard numbers in its press release. Serious personal and property crimes decreased 24 percent on trains and in rail stations while these crimes dropped 30 percent on CTA buses, the CTA said.
The CTA credited the decline to 23,000 security cameras across the system, expanded police patrols and increased undercover operations amid a decrease in ridership systemwide.
The CTA said images from CTA security cameras led to the arrests of 235 people, a 12 percent increase from 2013.
"By working closely with the Chicago Police Department and continuing our investment in security technology, we have been able to increase arrests with the aid of state-of-the-art video and provide a more secure environment for everyone," CTA President Forrest Claypool said in the news release.
Ridership is also down 3.1 percent systemwide through November, the most recent CTA data available.
CTA spokeswoman Catherine Hosinski said the decline in crimes was much more than the decrease in ridership.
"Ridership is projected to drop slightly in 2014-though nothing near the double-digit percentage point drops in serious crimes," Hosinski said in an e-mail.
The crime announcement comes months after Chicago police in November began swabbing the outside of rider bags at busy rail stations to check for explosives though police said there is no immediate terrorist threat.