The Transit Police of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District wants South Shore passengers to know that rowdy behavior won’t be tolerated on the trains.

And that Transit Police officers will be nipping the problem in the bud by stationing officers this year at Millennium Station for every Cubs home game this year.

“Even if fans don’t have a ticket to the game, it has become popular for many Northwest Indiana residents to take the South Shore into the city and then spend the day at the many bars in the Wrigleyville neighborhood,” the Transit Police said in a statement released on Friday. “However, it’s their return trip home by train at night that has landed a number of people in a Chicago Police lock-up. And now they are left behind in the city because Transit Police have refused them entry onto the train or they have been ejected from the train after it has departed Chicago.”

“NICTD, in an effort to provide a safe and secure commute for our passengers and employees, reserves the right to refuse passage to anyone who acts in a disruptive manner or may be injurious to themselves or others,” the Transit Police added. “Simply put, NICTD Transit Police will not tolerate loud, drunken, or obnoxious behavior on any of their passenger trains at any time. When people are intoxicated, they become disruptive, threatening, they refuse to pay their train fare, they want to fight, they get hurt, and they get sick.”

Transit Police took note of the fact that several “disruptive and potentially dangerous” Northwest Indiana residents who had been celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago were refused entry onto the last train of the night. “Those people were forced into calling for somebody to pick them up in the middle of the night or they paid for an expensive taxi ride home.”

Transit Police noted as well that video security cameras are mounted at all train stations and station parking lots and in the trains’ passenger coaches.

Transit Police will be assigned to passenger trains and at Millennium Station for every Cubs home game and at other special events throughout the year, including the Taste of Chicago.

Posted 4/4/2011