CHARLOTTE — The safety of riders on Charlotte public transportation is back in the spotlight after the North Carolina state audito released a report on Tuesday.
Channel 9’s Hunter Sáenz spoke one-on-one with the auditor on Wednesday.
The Charlotte Area Transit Sytem’s practices have changed drastically over the last couple of years.
The report is preliminary but it’s already one that is rocking the city and CATS.
State Auditor Dave Boliek said his office found that since 2022, the number of armed security guards working to keep Charlotte’s transit safe dropped by 40%.
“I don’t know the effectiveness of unarmed security versus armed security. And I think really you can see it in the results,” Boliek said.
The report came after the death of Iryna Zarutska, who police said was randomly stabbed to death on the Blue Line in August.
Since then, CATS security has been scrutinized and Channel 9 learned there was not a security guard onboard that train.
The state auditor’s report found that between 2022 and 2025, CATS went from paying $5.9 million for a security contract to $18.4 million in taxpayer’s money.
During that time, the number of armed guards fell from anywhere between 68 and 88 to 39.
>>CLICK HERE for complete coverage of the light rail stabbing
Sáenz asked where the money is going.
“Well, apparently it was going for unarmed guard services,” Boliek said. “We’re working on answering that question of why, and it clearly was a policy shift. There’s no other way to describe such a drastic change.”
The report also found the city of Charlotte mandated the most recent security contractor for CATS be part of the Charlotte Business Inclusion Program, which tries to boost the number of minority, women, and small businesses in city contracting.
Boliek has issues with that.
“Government should look to the best-qualified firm providing the best value to the citizens, to provide the maximum amount of security for the folks that ride,” he said. “I think the public should take this as an opportunity to hold their elected officials accountable moving forward to provide maximum security on the CATS system.”
Channel 9’s Joe Bruno asked CATS why the number of armed security guards decreased by such a large amount, as highlighted by the auditor.
CATS officials replied: “Armed security guards are just one layer of CATS overall safety and security plan. CATS new contract with PSS increases security personnel by over 100% from staffing levels with previous partners, but it also supports us in meeting the goal of significantly increasing the presence of security personnel throughout the transit system. By increasing our presence in combination with the additional 966 hours of CMPD off-duty patrols, CATS is working to meet the needs of our community. While not every contracted security guard is armed with a firearm, they are armed with other less-lethal options for de-escalating situations.”
Mayor Vi Lyles also responded to the report saying the current CATS security company is the same one that President Donald Trump has contracted with when he made stops here on the campaign trail.
She also asked for evidence from the auditor’s office showing the current security company is not qualified.
The auditor told Sáenz he didn’t say that in the report.
The mayor and city manager were supposed to have a news conference Wednesday about CATS security but after the report was put out, that was postponed until Friday.
911 Call and New Video
New video shows police arresting the man accused of killing Zarutska on the light rail.
Channel 9 obtained surveillance video from the Charlotte Area Transit System on Wednesday.
Several officers with their guns drawn took Decarlos Brown into custody on the light rail platform in South End moments after the stabbing.
Shortly before his arrest, Brown is seen in the video walking around, holding his hand, wrapped up in his red sweatshirt.
Channel 9 got the 911 calls made after the stabbing and one witness described seeing Brown.
“The fire trucks just got here but there’s no police precense and the guy that did it is standing over here on the ramp,” the caller said.
FTA Deadline
Last week, CATS sent thousands of pages of documents to the Federal Transit Administration for its investigation.
They provided a transit security plan to meet a 15-day deadline or risk millions in funding.
Among the changes, CATS said it would be adding bike patrols this week, along with a new urban-terrain vehicles.
VIDEO: JD Vance discusses light rail stabbing while visiting Concord
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