The Chicago Transit Authority is running full-page newspaper ads and radio spots warning ``hoodlums, marauders and chili-dog thugs`` of the CTA`s crackdown on crime. But just what is a ``chili-dog thug?`` A criminal suffering from gas or sporting shirt stains?
Chicago police public transportation unit commander Bob Dart`s picture is in the ad, so we asked the Chicago Police Department. ``Never heard of it. We asked Bob Dart, and he didn`t know,`` said a spokesperson. ``I dunno,`` said a spokesperson for the CTA. So we asked street cops and folks on the street who said: ``I give, what is it?``
But CTA marketing manager Lynn Small, who laid out big bucks for the ad campaign, and the ad`s author, Bernie Washington, who`ll collect the dollars, explained that a ``chili-dog thug`` is a petty thief, someone who would steal for the price of a sandwich. The ad would probably be pretty effective where that phrase is not only popular, but understood. But the last time we checked, you couldn`t get to New York City on the CTA-even with a Supertransfer.