The Pittsburgh Bureau of Police has announced a significant change in its response protocol due to ongoing staffing shortages.
As of February 26, 2024, officers will no longer respond in person to certain non-emergency calls, including reports of theft, harassment, criminal mischief, and most burglary alarms.
Instead, these incidents will be directed to an enhanced Telephone Reporting Unit (TRU), where residents can file reports over the phone.
This unit will operate between 7 p.m. and 3 a.m., including weekends, and will handle reports via phone for non-violent incidents that do not require immediate police presence.
Additionally, the department has announced that no officers will be stationed at any of the six police zones between the hours of 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. Residents in need of emergency assistance during these times will have access to ‘blue phone’ direct lines to 911 outside all police zones and the Downtown Public Safety Center.
In light of these changes, the Bureau will also alter shift patterns, moving from traditional eight-hour workdays to four 10-hour shifts each week, affording officers three consecutive days off. This transition is expected to promote officer wellness, a core value emphasized by Police Chief Larry Scirotto.
“An additional day away from work each week to focus on family, friends, or outside pursuits is key to creating a healthy workforce and contributes to the Bureau’s goal of not only recruiting new officers, but retaining them for the long haul, ” said Chief Larry Scirotto. Officers will also be afforded one hour of wellness time each week while on shift to use at their discretion.
Some of the changes from the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police include:
- Centralized deployment established for the night shift where police units will be strategically placed throughout the zones staffed by multiple supervisors and a night watch commander who will oversee operations and allocate resources to areas of need throughout the city
- New watch commander added to the p.m. shift
- Formation of the Violent Crime Division to include Homicide, Narcotics, Intelligence, and the Violence Prevention Unit with the overarching goal of reducing violent crime and gun violence
- Installation of blue phones with a direct line to 9-1-1 outside all six police zones and the Downtown Public Safety Center for use between 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. when officers are deployed in the field
- Creation of an enhanced Telephone Reporting Unit (TRU) operating from 7-3 a.m. daily, including weekends. Dispatch will assign reports to the TRU for calls that do not require an in-person response by officers. TRU will NOT be assigned to any “In Progress” call where a suspect may be on scene, any crime where a person may need medical aid, any domestic dispute, calls with evidence, or where the Mobile Crime Unit will be requested to process a scene
- Creation of the Pittsburgh Police Cares portal on the City of Pittsburgh website modeled on the current Zone 1 Cares initiative. The online portal will be one-stop shopping for police/community engagement events, safety alerts, monthly crime statistics, and zone/neighborhood-centered news
- Online citizen reporting
“Following thorough audits of how police resources were being allocated, these improvements are backed by data to ensure that the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police is serving the city in the most efficient and responsible manner, placing the primary focus on areas of concern to enhance quality of life in our neighborhoods, improve community/police partnerships, and prioritize officer wellness. These are my key priorities for the Bureau, which will only serve to strengthen public safety in the city,” said Scirotto.
WATCH:
BREAKING: Pittsburgh police will no longer respond to certain calls & will instead be redirecting people to a telephone unit.
Those crimes include thefts, harassment, criminal mischief, burglary alarms, etc.
Additionally, there were be only 20 police officers patrolling the… pic.twitter.com/H5dqLud72W
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) March 10, 2024
In January, The Gateway Pundit previously reported the Fraternal Order of Police is warning that the public is at risk in Pittsburgh due to staffing shortages in the city.
Former Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto froze police hiring in response to the Black Lives Matter riots in 2020.
CBS News reports, “In 2023, 102 officers left the bureau: 46 resigned, 55 retired, and one died of natural causes. That leaves the bureau with 735 sworn officers and 12 command staff, which the union calls the lowest staffing levels anyone can remember.”
The situation is so dire that Robert Swartzwelder, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, has issued a warning to residents.
“Citizens of the City of Pittsburgh and its visitors should be alarmed at these numbers,” Swartzwelder wrote in the statement. “Citizens should be concerned for being overcharged on their taxes regarding police services they are not receiving and general public safety reasons.”
Along with residents, visitors should also “be concerned” about their safety in the city, Swartzwelder said.
“Visitors should be concerned about slower or absent police response as well as personal safety when they visit the City. The FOP has sounded the alarm for many years regarding this issue while the Mayor’s administration and police administration mislead the public into believing all is well in the City.”
CBS asked Pittsburgh Police Chief Larry Scirotto if the shortage is jeopardizing the public.
“It makes me re-evaluate where our resources are directed,” Scirotto replied.
According to the report, “Since becoming chief in May, Scirotto says he has re-directed and redeployed officers to better protect and serve, eliminating responses to non-essential police calls and taking officers out of administration positions and returning them to patrol, saying while the overall numbers have fallen there are now more police on the street.”
“I don’t believe the public’s safety is in jeopardy,” Scirotto said. “I don’t believe our officers’ safety is in jeopardy. If I did believe that, I wouldn’t stand in front of you and tell you otherwise.”
