5 things to know about the murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska

3. Charlotte Mayor calls for policy change as local police union decries too little, too late 

In an X statement shared Monday, Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles, a Democrat, attributed Zarutska’s murder to a “tragic failure by the courts and magistrates.”

According to Lyles, “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.”

Lyles vowed to increase security presence on the public transit system and identified fare enforcement as one of their areas of focus. She also indicated that the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department would conduct increased patrols at certain transit stations.

In a Facebook post published Monday, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Fraternal Order of Police suggested that the mayor’s call for action amounts to too little, too late: “Maybe if the mayor followed our Facebook page ... for maybe the past 5 years or so, she’d see we’ve been complaining about this and calling for action.”

The local police union maintained that their calls for action were met with crickets, sharing emojis of the insects whose name is widely used as a synonym for silence.

“Maybe when our Lodge President called for the public resignation of then Chief District Court Judge Elizabeth Trosch, Mayor Lyles could have called him to find out more — she didn’t,” the post added. “It never should have happened. While we’ve been calling for change for years now, our ‘leaders’ finally care.” 

The Facebook post also included an image of a 2023 statement outlining the Fraternal Order of Police’s concerns with Trosch, crediting her with implementing a policy that prioritizes “minimizing the unnecessary use of secure detention.” The statement included multiple examples of violent criminals winding up back on the streets after easily securing the bond necessary for release from custody and called for Trosch’s resignation.