ORDINANCE
WHEREAS, the City of Chicago is a home rule unit of government pursuant to the 1970 Illinois Constitution, Article VII, Section 6(a); and
WHEREAS, pursuant to its home rule power, the City of Chicago may exercise any power and perform any function relating to its government and affairs including the power to regulate for the protection of the public health, safety, morals, and welfare; and
WHEREAS, as the ride-share industry expands, the impersonation of transportation network drivers is an increasingly prevalent concern and threat to the safety and well-being of Chicagoans and those who visit this City; and
WHEREAS, reports of individuals misrepresenting themselves as ride-share drivers and making crime victims out of would-be passengers have unfortunately become commonplace; and
WHEREAS, in March of 2017, a man posing as a transportation network driver was arrested for abducting women from outside bars and nightclubs in Wrigleyville and taking them to secluded locations where he would force them to perform sex acts; and
WHEREAS, through the use of DNA evidence and photos on his phone, the man was linked to at least five rapes over the last two years; and
WHEREAS, in 2015, the Chicago Police Department had already issued an alert warning residents of transportation network driver impersonators; and
WHEREAS, the alert came in response to two incidents where two men in a vehicle posed as transportation network drivers only to rob those who entered the vehicle of their debit cards and then demanding their personal identification numbers; and
WHEREAS, a pair of women posing as transportation network drivers are suspected of having committed at least nine robberies in Chicago's River North area from August through November of 2018 and they remain at large; and
WHEREAS, on December 1, 2018 it was reported that two women were arrested after posing as Uber drivers in Chicago's downtown neighborhoods, soliciting rides, and offering to sell cocaine to pot...
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