Blue Line murder escalates into an urban safety dispute

TROY HULL | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles on Monday pledged immediate changes in public safety approaches on public transit platforms as a response to the Aug. 22 murder of Iryna Zarutska on a Lynx Blue Line train in South End. Her death has grown into a political touchpoint with President Donald Trump accusing Democrats as soft on crime and North Carolina Auditor Dave Boliek launching an investigation into Charlotte Area Transit System’s approach to security.

The murder of a commuter on Charlotte’s Blue Line has turned a public safety debate political.

Mayor Vi Lyles released a statement Monday pledging to beef up security on public transit in the aftermath of the Aug. 22 stabbing death of Iryna Zarutska as she sat on a train in South End. Lyles criticized the courts for releasing Decarlos Brown, who was charged with killing Zarutska, a refugee from Ukraine. Brown has pleaded not guilty.

“Over the past several weeks as our community has worked to understand this, what we know is that this was a tragic failure by the courts and magistrates,” Lyles wrote in a statement. “Our police officers arrest people only to have them quickly released, which undermines our ability to protect our community and ensure safety. We need a bipartisan solution to address repeat offenders who do not face consequences for their actions and those who cannot get treatment for their mental illness and are allowed to be on the streets.”

North Carolina Auditor Dave Boliek, citing a string of commuter assaults on Charlotte Transit vehicles this year, announced Tuesday his office will investigate CATS’s public safety structure, including private security contracts, metrics and data that used for the transit authority’s security budget.

“One of the most basic duties a government owes the people is public safety,” Boliek said in a statement. “The recent lawlessness and violence that have taken place on Charlotte’s public transportation raise serious questions about the security measures in place. We will investigate CATS and examine its public safety contracts and operations.”

President Donald Trump took to his social media platform to criticize “Democrats who refuse to put bad people in jail, including Former Disgraced Governor and ‘Wannabe Senator’ Roy Cooper” for Zarutska’s murder. 
Trump and Boliek are Republicans. Lyles and Cooper are Democrats.

Lyles said the city has “partnered before on legislation like North Carolina’s pre-trial integrity act, and we stand ready to partner again at the local, state, and federal level.

“I want to assure the community that we are taking action, and we will continue to take action.”

Charlotte Area Transit System officials last week made a presentation to City Council and the Metropolitan Transit Commission on security upgrades. CATS is redeploying security personnel on Blue Line platforms and including patrols with bike units and urban terrain vehicles later this month in addition to increased fare enforcement. 

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police will also boost patrols across the transit system.

Over the past two years, Lyles said, “we have doubled the number of CATS security personnel, tripled the safety and security budget from $5.8 million to nearly $18 million, and are shifting from a corporate security model towards a stronger transit policing model.”

CATS also plans to recruite and hire nearly 30 additional security personnel in addition to forward an agreement for council’s consideration at its Sept. 22 business meeting to expand the agency’s security authority around the transit system.

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