CATS Officials will focus on fare enforcement, camera upgrades, and hiring more officers

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Charlotte Area Transit officials say they were actively enhancing security when Iryna Zarutska was stabbed to death by a stranger on the LYNX Blue Line on August 22nd.

Zarutska’s family says she was on her way home from work around 10pm when police say DeCarlos Brown stabbed her in the throat several times after a few short minutes sitting across from each other on the train.

“It does not make me have the desire to want to ride it or walk down here by myself at all in the dark,” Markela Tarrence, South End Resident said.

This incident is the first murder on the Blue Line since it opened in 2007. Many people have ideas for how to make the system safer.

“I would suggest have one section for only females only,” Misun Kim, Charlotte Resident said.

In a meeting Wednesday morning with the Metropolitan Transit Commission which includes mayors from across the region, CATS officials said there are plans to upgrade cameras and hire more officers with a focus on fare enforcement.

“The next step will be to, as we said, decouple fare enforcement from true security and have dedicated ticket enforcement or fare inspectors,” Brent Cagle, CATS CEO said.

CATS is spending more than $18 million dollars to contract with Professional Security Services. For the first time, CATS is using a transit police model with a goal of hiring 218 officers there are still some openings left.

Court records say the murder suspect is homeless and CATS officials say he didn’t have a light rail ticket.

“Fare collection and fare evasion strategies are being reviewed as there is a recognition to fare collection and validating fares on the train and bus as first line security control,” Eric Osnes, CATS Chief Safety and Security Officer said.

A recent CATS survey found 80% of riders believe the train is safe, but only 40% of the community believes the transit system is safe.

“I could be standing over there on the sidewalk, somebody could have stabbed me. I mean, what does it really matter that it was on the train,” Amber Lynch, South Charlotte Resident asked.

CATS officials also asked Transportation Safety Administration, better known as TSA to conduct a threat assessment on buses and trains throughout the city. Those results haven’t been made public yet. The CATS CEO also wants to host a transit security summit soon to bring local agencies to the table to discuss solutions to safety concerns.