Train cargo thefts on the rise in Chicago, according to data

[useapen]

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The recent bold daylight takeover of a freight car in
Chicago by throngs of thieves captured national attention for its
brazen lawlessness.

From coast-to-coast authorities say pirates of the railroad are leaving
a literal trail of their crimes. They've been seen accessing usually
unlocked rail cars, shucking the cargo from boxes, taking the hot goods
and leaving behind a literal litter-yard of cardboard. These newfangled
pirates are more regularly robbing trains in metro Chicago according to
those who track these crimes.

Dozens of people swarmed a rail freight car last Friday in Chicago's
Austin neighborhood, with more converging by the minute, as word spread
that shipping boxes were there for the taking.

Chicago police charged two Chicago men with theft: 21-year-old Lemar
Hollingsworth and 53-year-old Derrick Weathers, who also faces
marijuana charges.

READ MORE: 2 charged in freight train looting on West Side, authorities
say

"The faster we can move goods, the faster they can steal them," said
Keith Lewis, Vice President of operations at Verisk CargoNet.

Lewis is a career investigator who monitors train thefts and prevention
for Verisk CargoNet. He says Friday's Chicago boxcar attack appears to
have been a crime of opportunity, with a neighborhood flash-mob finding
unlocked train cars; seizing the moment and the merchandise.

Thefts such as this are among 174 Illinois cargo thefts so far this
year, according to Verisk CargoNet, and has been increasing since 2020.

RELATED: Stolen merchandise for sale online after thieves loot freight
train on West Side, residents say

"The trailers aren't all that difficult to break into. Typically,
they're not locked, just the seal, plastic or metal seal, and they're
easy to get into. Which brings us into why? Why are there no high end
security locks on the trains? It's a logistical nightmare getting the
locks on once the train gets delivered," Lewis told the I-Team.

He says rail shippers are also plagued by organized gangs of train
thieves who develop data on schedules and which trains to hit when.

"Crews coming over from the LA area of California, driving all the way
to Western Arizona and breaking in the trains," said Lewis. "Their
different type of M.O. where they actually disable the train and cause
it to stop, or they wait for the train to stop and then they break in
to specific trailers."

https://abc7chicago.com/post/chicago-train-robbery-after-shocking-west-
side-looting-data-shows-rail-cargo-thefts-are-rise-area/15429142/

[Fishrrman]

Post by useapen
From coast-to-coast authorities say pirates of the railroad are leaving
a literal trail of their crimes. They've been seen accessing usually
unlocked rail cars, shucking the cargo from boxes, taking the hot goods
and leaving behind a literal litter-yard of cardboard

The only way to stop this will be...

- Develop a new method of sealing containers that cannot be
easily defeated with bolt cutters, hammers, etc. Perhaps a
hardened hasp and ultra-high security locks

- Better yet, change the well car design so that container
doors cannot be opened once the containers are placed and
secured in the cars. Might be easy enough for the lower
container, but design changes would be needed to secure the
doors on the upper container.

Want to keep the black vermin out?
Then make it literally impossible for them to get IN...

[Dave Drum]

-=> useapen wrote to All <=-

us> CHICAGO (WLS) -- The recent bold daylight takeover of a freight car in
us> Chicago by throngs of thieves captured national attention for its
us> brazen lawlessness.

us> From coast-to-coast authorities say pirates of the railroad are leaving
us> a literal trail of their crimes. They've been seen accessing usually
us> unlocked rail cars, shucking the cargo from boxes, taking the hot goods
us> and leaving behind a literal litter-yard of cardboard. These newfangled
us> pirates are more regularly robbing trains in metro Chicago according to
us> those who track these crimes.

us> Dozens of people swarmed a rail freight car last Friday in Chicago's
us> Austin neighborhood, with more converging by the minute, as word spread
us> that shipping boxes were there for the taking.

us> Chicago police charged two Chicago men with theft: 21-year-old Lemar
us> Hollingsworth and 53-year-old Derrick Weathers, who also faces
us> marijuana charges.

On October 6, 1866, the brothers John and Simeon Reno stage the first
train robbery in American history, making off with $13,000 from an Ohio
and Mississippi railroad train in Jackson County, Indiana.

Of course, trains had been robbed before the Reno brothers' holdup. But
these previous crimes had all been burglaries of stationary trains
sitting in depots or freight yards. The Reno brothers' contribution to
criminal history was to stop a moving train in a sparsely populated
region where they could carry out their crime without risking
interference from the law or curious bystanders.

Though created in Indiana, the Reno brother's new method of robbing
trains quickly became very popular in the West. Many bandits, who might
otherwise have been robbing banks or stagecoaches, discovered that the
newly constructed transcontinental and regional railroads in the West
made attractive targets. With the western economy booming, trains often
carried large amounts of cash and precious minerals. The wide-open
spaces of the West also provided train robbers with plenty of isolated
areas ideal for stopping trains, as well as plenty of wild spaces where
they could hide from the law. Some criminal gangs, like Butch Cassidy's
Wild Bunch, found that robbing trains was so easy and lucrative that for
a time they made it their criminal specialty.

... You can shop very cheaply at unattended loading docks.