(UUc,
Call for hearing(s) on Norfolk Southern Corporation Railroad Boxcars Thefts and the Norfolk Southern Railroad Police Division Strategies & Operations
WHEREAS, the Norfolk Southern Railway is classified as a Class 1 railroad in the United States and is owned by the Norfolk Southern Corporation; and
WHEREAS, the Norfolk Southern Railway is responsible for carrying commodities across 22 states along its 22,000 route miles; and
WHEREAS, the State of Illinois is one (1) of eleven (11) Regional Divisions for Norfolk Southern Railway with trains operating along its City of Chicago corridor, which expands about 150 miles and is a passageway connecting the Norfolk Southern Railroad from Chicago directly to neighboring Midwestern States; and
WHEREAS, the Norfolk Southern Railway could carry any cargo that ships by rail to destinations and retailers across the nation, including the shipment of firearms, which could be transported through the City of Chicago to reach licensed Firearm retailers in other states; and
WHEREAS, on May 24th 2015, the Chicago Police Department released a bulletin stating Norfolk Southern Railroad Police reported to Chicago Police 004th District personnel a theft of one-hundred and eleven (111) firearms taken from one of its railroad boxcars located on a train in the South Chicago neighborhood on April 12th 2015; and
WHEREAS, the weapons stolen from the railroad boxcar included .44 caliber revolvers, .357 caliber revolvers and .22 caliber pistol grip long rifles of which, according to the May 24th bulletin, four of the .22 caliber pistol grip long rifles were recovered in the 007th (Englewood) and 0019th (Town Hall) Districts as of May 24th, 2015; and
WHEREAS, in addition to the theft on April 24th 2015, previously, in May of 2014, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in conjunction with the Chicago Police Department investigated the theft of thirteen (13) Smith & Wesson M&P Sport Rifles from a Norfolk Southern rail...
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