A preliminary report from North Carolina State Auditor Dave Boliek faults the Charlotte Area Transit System for not hiring enough armed security guards on its light rail system. The report released Tuesday says that even though CATS tripled its security budget and hired more security personnel overall in recent years, the number of armed officers fell by 40%.
CATS has switched security contractors twice since 2018. Private contractors are responsible for securing the transit system, rather than Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police.
The city of Charlotte responded that it has added more security guards overall, and added CMPD officers to supplement patrols on the light rail in the last month. Mayor Vi Lyles also wrote that the city didn't have adequate time to respond to the auditor's questions.
The audit was prompted by the killing of Iryna Zarutska on the Blue Line light rail. Decarlos Brown Jr. was arrested and charged with stabbing her to death. A final audit is pending.
You can read the full preliminary audit online.