Bail, Rail, and Rage: Congress Rips Charlotte After Blue Line Killing
Grieving families. A wounded cop. An audit that says the math on CATS security doesn’t add up.
In a blistering Charlotte field hearing, House Judiciary members torched the city’s bail practices and transit security after a state rapid-response report showed fewer armed officers than train cars and families called repeat offenders “walking time bombs.”
What’s at stake, right now: a Blue Line murder that stunned riders; an audit showing 39 armed personnel for 48 train cars, $49 million in security contracts since 2022, and staffing gaps weeks after the killing; plus a procurement shuffle that left one vendor running armed and unarmed security without a fresh competition for the armed scope.
Families: “Not justice”
Mia Alderman, grandmother of Mary Santina Collins, said five-plus years without a murder trial is “not justice,” blasting bond decisions that let suspects live freely while families grieve.
Steve Federico’s daughter Logan was shot after a man with “39 arrests, 25 felonies” kept getting out. His message to officials: “I’ll fight until my last breath.”
Cop: “Magistrate system is trash”
CMPD Officer Justin Campbell, injured in a 2024 shootout, didn’t tiptoe. He called Mecklenburg’s magistrate system “trash” and said “cashless bail” is “a joke” for violent crimes. The result, he said: cops re-arrest the same people while violent crime continues.
The numbers that don’t ride
- 48 train cars on the Lynx Blue Line.
- 39 armed personnel funded under the current contract: six armed guards, 26 state-certified officers, six sergeants, one captain. That is at least 40% fewer armed personnel than under G4S/Allied years earlier.
- 219 total security positions funded for FY25–26.
- $49M in private security contracts since 2022.
- FTA finding: crimes against CATS riders three times the national average.
- Post-homicide staffing: two to three weeks later, leaders reported 186 personnel on post and “continuing to hire,” with no “clear shift” visible to riders.
You can’t put an armed officer on every car with those numbers. Riders know it.
How we got here
- 2018: City hires G4S. Scope shows 68–88 armed “sworn company police.”
- 2021: Allied Universal absorbs G4S.
- 2023: Armed award to Strategic Security Corporation (SSC); unarmed to Professional Security Services (PSS).
- 2024: City cancels SSC armed contract effective Dec. 14.
- Late 2024: City amends PSS deal so PSS runs armed + unarmed. No clear evidence of a new competitive bid for the armed scope.
- 2025: A month after Iryna Zarutska’s murder, Council expands PSS jurisdiction beyond CATS property to adjacent areas.
Congress vs. City Hall
The chair said magistrates and “weak leaders” let repeat offenders walk. Ranking Member Deborah Ross fired back that Congress and the legislature should fund prosecutors, victim services, and mental-health care rather than “hide behind empty slogans.” Families didn’t argue the politics. They counted the funerals and the years.
What changes next
- Pretrial rules: Where should detention or secured bail be mandatory. How will the public see compliance and re-offense data.
- Transit security: Are 39 armed posts enough when deployment must cover 48 cars and multiple centers. What metrics will be published and how often.
- Procurement: When armed scopes change hands, is the process competitive and transparent.
- Backlogs: Five-to-seven-year murder dockets aren’t justice. What staffing and docket fixes cut that wait.
The City can extend the current security contract two more years after FY26 at the same staffing. That makes the next few council meetings, and the November ballot, the real courtroom.
About the author
Jack Beckett drinks coffee as a reporting method. If an espresso could file a public-records request, it would be his. Catch more slow-cooked civic journalism at The Charlotte Mercury. Browse our latest on News and Politics, and fall down the rabbit hole of our 2025 election hub, Poll Dance 2025—candidate dossiers, transit-tax explainers, and a healthy disrespect for empty talking points. Got tips or corrections? Ping us on X, Twitter, or, as we call it, Twix: @queencityexp. Bring caffeine.
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© 2025 The Charlotte Mercury / Strolling Ballantyne
This article, “From City Hall to Capitol Hill: Charlotte’s Bail Policies and Transit Safety Under Washington’s Microscope,” by Jack Beckett is licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0.
“From City Hall to Capitol Hill: Charlotte’s Bail Policies and Transit Safety Under Washington’s Microscope”
by Jack Beckett, The Charlotte Mercury (CC BY-ND 4.0)