Pittsburgh Police No Longer Responding To Non-Emergency Crimes Overnight
The Pittsburgh police will no longer respond to certain late-night 911 calls reporting theft, harassment, or burglary.
Pittsburgh’s police department will not have enough overnight staff to respond to any calls that aren’t “in-progress emergencies,” a local news report claimed. Between the hours of 3 a.m. and 7 a.m., there will no longer be desk officers at any of the city’s six-zone stations. Instead, the city will be patrolled by just 22 officers, and call boxes linked to 911 installed across the city.
“It’s enough to cover the entire city in those hours when we have 8% of the time people are calling,” Pittsburgh Police Chief Larry Sciorotto said. He asserted that he’s “confident in the decision” to cut back on local police.
Local news outlets report that the changes are due to staffing shortages. The police chief noted that a fully staffed police department for the city is considered 900 officers. At the beginning of 2023, local law enforcement offices tallied in at 835. The police force plummeted to 740 officers to date.
Sciorotto maintains that his plans only remove 12 officers from the line of duty.
Bob Swartzwelder, president of the union representing the Pittsburgh police, called Sciorotto’s remarks disingenuous. He claims that the city will likely only have 14 to 15 officers available between the hours of 3 a.m. and 7 a.m., as specialized units will be preoccupied with specialized projects.
“They’re running out of manpower very, very quickly, and they’re getting very taxed,” Swartzwelder said.
The announcement was met with a mixed response from the community. Councilman Anthony Coghill said these changes are not sufficient for the public’s expectations.
“When it comes to harassment and things of this nature, you better have a police officer there,” Coghill told Channel 11 News. “That’s what the public expects. That’s what I expect out of our city.”
