Chicago to add more patrols around CTA

Chicago’s adding 50 full-time police officers to patrol Chicago Transit Authority trains and bus stations.

City officials say the officers will be drawn from the Chicago Police Academy and should be in place by next spring. The CTA says it’s kicking in $10 million for the security upgrade.

Several high-profile attacks on the CTA’s vast network in recent years raised public concern and highlighted safety issues.

In a statement from his office Wednesday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said the beefed up security patrols will help “ensure the safety and security of all who rely on the CTA to get to work, school and to destinations across” Chicago.

Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy added in the same statement that the new officers will bolster the department’s ability to deter crime.