Citywide, there were 71 homicides in Pittsburgh in 2014, well above the 10-year average of 55. The last time the number was in the 70s was 2008, when there were 74 homicides.
“This is a public health emergency,” said Chief of Pittsburgh Police Cameron McLay. “It’s having a disparate impact on our underprivileged and our communities of color.”
Twenty-six of the 2014 homicide cases have been cleared by arrest. There are 28 active investigations, eight cases with strong suspects and six pending grand jury or district attorney review.
The majority of homicides are not random acts, according to the police. Charts from the department show both perpetrators and their victims have arrest records. He said there are groups in the city who are involved in borderline or actual criminal conduct who are driving the violence, and there is a retaliatory nature to many of the homicides. He said going forward, the department plans to be more proactive.
“How can we make better use of intelligence and data, how can we have better relationships with the community so we get the community more actively involved,” asked McLay. “Because community members know who those few who are involved in these violent behaviors [are], so how can we tighten that up?”
McLay and commander in charge of major crimes, Rashall Brackney, are urging the public to help.
“We’re integrating technology to help us, we’re doing that through ShotSpotter, we’re doing it through cameras, but the human element is what solves each and every one of these cases,” said Brackney.
But community cooperation has been spotty, as relations between the police and the public have been strained, and McLay acknowledged that many people are scared to come forward for fear that they or their families will be targets of violence. To that end, police are hoping to raise awareness of its witness protection program.
“We have not lost a victim in our witness protection program while they were in the program,” Bryant said. “Some witnesses have decided that the rules that we have within the program, they can’t adhere to them, they voluntarily leave, then some of those witnesses may have been harmed as a result of their own actions.”
Bryant said some of the witnesses are in trouble or bad situations themselves, and in some cases going through the witness protection program has helped them improve their lives. She said empowering witnesses is one of the goals.
In addition to trying to mend relations with the community, McLay said that he hopes to implement a model of focused deterrence, which targets those responsible for violent crimes.
“This problem has been consistently and effectively dealt with by implementing a model of focused deterrence in city after city after city,” McLay said. “The latest example where it’s being very effectively addressed is Chicago which had off the charts levels of violence as compared to what we’re looking at in Pittsburgh.”
McLay said he is in communication with experts who have helped implement the model in other cities.
