§ 2.11.20

Illinois § 2.11.20

• Jurisdiction: Illinois
• Topic: GOVERNMENT
• Ch. 70: SPECIAL DISTRICTS
• Act 70 ILCS 3615/: Regional Transportation Authority Act.
• Art.: Article II - Powers

Text

(This Section may contain text from a Public Act with a delayed effective date ) Sec. 2.11.20. Coordinated Safety Response Council. (a) The Office of Transit Safety and Experience shall create a standing Coordinated Safety Response Council to facilitate collaboration and synchronization among government agencies and nongovernmental agencies to address safety issues and social service needs for individuals working or riding on public transportations in the metropolitan region. (b) The Office of Transit Safety and Experience shall invite organizations to be members of the Coordinated Safety Response Council. Membership may include major law enforcement agencies and social service providers in the area served by the transit system. Membership shall include, at minimum, staff representing: (1) the Authority's Chief Transit Safety Officer; (2) each Service Board; (3) the Chair of the Riders Advisory Council; (4) the Chair of the ADA Advisory Council; (5) the Cook County State's Attorney's Office; (6) the Cook County Sheriff's Office; (7) the highest ranking officer of the NITA Law Enforcement Task Force; (8) law enforcement agencies whose jurisdiction includes transit facilities operated by the Authority; (9) the Chicago Police Department; (10) the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services; (11) representatives of the labor organizations representing bus and train operators for the Chicago Transit Authority; (12) a representative from an organization currently providing alternative behavioral health, mobile crisis response; (13) a representative from an organization participating in implementation of the Community Emergency Services and Supports Act; (14) representatives from community-based organizations serving youth, people with disabilities, or individuals experiencing homelessness; (15) a representative from the Department of Human Services; and (16) a representative from a labor organization representing bus and train operators for the Commuter Rail Division. (c) Within 9 months of the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 104th General Assembly, the Coordinated Safety Response Council shall issue a report on using sworn law enforcement officers to respond to crime on public transportation in the metropolitan region, which shall include: (1) an assessment of the feasibility, advisability, and necessity of various strategies to use sworn law enforcement officers to respond to crime on public transportation in the metropolitan region; and (2) the qualifications, composition, training, requirements, strategies, roles, and accountability measures, policies, and procedures necessary to implement the outlined strategies. (d) In evaluating the feasibility, advisability, and necessity of various strategies to use sworn law enforcement to respond to crime on public transportation, the Coordinated Safety Response Council shall consider: (1) data, outcomes, and recommendations from the NITA Law Enforcement Task Force; (2) in a holistic manner, the Authority's safety systems and programs, including the transit ambassador program, safety, surveillance, and communication technologies, infrastructure investments, and external partnerships and contracts and investments; (3) the costs and risks associated with the various strategies; and (4) making a recommendation on the optimal strategy to use law enforcement to respond to crime on public transportation in the metropolitan region. (e) The Coordinated Safety Response Council shall be responsible for developing an incident response and long-term safety strategy, including, at minimum: (1) the appropriate responses, including sworn law enforcement and social services, for different kinds of safety or code of conduct incidents on public transportation in the region; (2) the organization responsible for deploying resources to provide the identified responses based on incident location and circumstances; (3) the agreements, contracts, or communication protocols needed for the identified organizations to implement the incident response strategy; and (4) the protocols necessary to address multijurisdictional participation in the NITA Law Enforcement Task Force and any future multijurisdictional collaborations, including: (A) addressing legal questions of jurisdictional authority; (B) creating consistent use of force standards; (C) promoting consistent training across the multiple law enforcement entities participating in the NITA Law Enforcement Task Force; and (D) clarifying the ordinance authority held by Chicago Transit Authority to allow multiple jurisdictions to lawfully participate in the NITA Law Enforcement Task Force. (f) The incident response and long-term safety strategy shall consider actions and outcomes achievable given a baseline annual funding level of $95,000,000 from the Authority and a baseline level of spending by each local law enforcement agency participating in the council that is no less than that agency's spending relating to public transportation in Fiscal Year 2025. (g) The Coordinated Safety Response Council shall complete a comprehensive review and evaluation of the incident response and long-term safety strategy no less than once every 3 years. The Coordinated Safety Response Council shall update the incident response and long-term safety strategy as it finds necessary in its evaluation. (h) Members of the Coordinated Safety Response Council shall, at a minimum, receive or show proof that they have previously received training that is adequate in quality, quantity, scope, and type, on the following topics: (1) constitutional and other relevant law on police-community encounters, including the law on the use of force and stops, searches, and arrests; (2) police tactics, including de-escalation; (3) impartial policing; (4) policing individuals in crisis; (5) procedural justice; and (6) cultural competency, including implicit bias and racial and ethnic sensitivity. (i) The Authority shall implement the recommendations of the Coordinated Safety Response Council in a permanent long-term safety plan as soon as possible after the completion of each report. (j) The Coordinated Safety Response Council shall study the current use of nongovernmental agencies that provide outreach and assistance to riders that (i) are unhoused, (ii) suffer from mental health issues, or (iii) otherwise may benefit from social services. Within 12 months of the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 104th General Assembly, the Coordinated Safety Response Council shall issue a report, which shall include, at a minimum: (1) an analysis of the cost and effect of these programs on the population the programs serve and the broader effect the programs have on users of the system; (2) any recommendations for changes or improvements to existing programs; (3) strategies and best practices to expand and improve these programs throughout the Service Boards; and (4) the qualifications, composition, training, requirements, strategies, roles, and accountability measures, policies, and procedures necessary to implement the outlined recommendations.

Legislative History

(Source: P.A. 104-457, eff. 6-1-26.)