On March 1, the Belt Railway and Chicago police departments joined forces for a safety benchmarking.

Two 8th District community services officers, Debra Preus and Mike Power, met the Belt’s director of police, Jerry Conoboy, for a full day of info sharing.

Along with boarding a locomotive, Officers Preus and Power toured the Belt’s yard, diesel shop, general business office and its new command center. They expressed their surprise about the facility’s size and the magnitude of the 24/7 operation. The officers said they gained important knowledge about various access points, which they’ll share with the Chicago Police Department’s beat officers.

“Valuable information was exchanged between the Belt Railway and Chicago police departments,” said Conoboy, who noted a similar event will occur in the near future.