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As any public official, mayoral hopeful, or pundit will tell you, Pittsburgh is struggling with police staffing. As of Wednesday, the department had 759 officers among its ranks — a number that includes command staff, recent police academy grads and current academy students. Even factoring in those positions, the total is well short of the goal of 800 officers set in this year’s budget, in itself a decline from the 850 budgeted in 2024 and 900 budgeted in 2023.
Blame for the size of the force has been focused on Mayor Ed Gainey, and staffing seems likely to be a major issue in his re-election. But the problem is much bigger than Pittsburgh.
A survey of police departments nationwide by the International Association of Chiefs of Police this past summer found that of the more than 1,100 departments that responded, more than 70% struggled more with recruitment than they did five years before. Nearly two-thirds said they’d reduced services because they lacked enough staff.
Some blame the problem on “Black Lives Matter” protests and public criticism of police. But demographics are also at work: According to the IACP survey, retirements are increasing now as officers hired in the 1990s, when a spike in crime rates prompted waves of hiring, reach retirement age.
Thomas Wieczorek, director at the Center for Public Safety Management, said departments nationwide are trying similar strategies to address staffing shortages.
One common strategy to stretch out the uniformed force, he said, is “civilianizing” some tasks to be handled by non-sworn department employees. That’s a move earlier city administrations have tried, and that the bureau has named as a goal in this year’s budget.
Departments also often hire trained professionals to help deal with mental illness and homelessness — as Pittsburgh is doing with its Office of Community Health and Safety.
“We can't just dump on the police department and say, ‘OK, solve all the community’s woes, solve homelessness, solve the drug problem, solve all of these issues.’ It hasn't worked,” Wieczorek said.
Signing bonuses or salary increases can also help, he said. And some departments have looked into reaching out to retirees for part-time work.
But police jobs, Wieczorek said, are hard to recruit for, with big responsibilities and long hours that can include weekends and holidays. As officers leave, more overtime piles on those who remain, adding to burnout in a “downward spiral.”
Having a good organizational culture is important, he said.
“Cities and communities are having to take a look inside: What [image] are they presenting to the outside? Is it one of positivity?” Wieczorek said. “Oftentimes the best ambassadors for attracting people are current employees. So if they're out on the streets saying, ‘Oh my God, don't ever go to this place,’ it's not going to exactly be the welcome wagon to attracting candidates.”
Recent developments, such as the departure of the city’s previous police chief to pursue work refereeing college basketball, may not have put the city’s best foot forward. But University of Pittsburgh criminal law professor David Harris said pocketbook issues are a big factor.
“We have to be absolutely competitive with every other police department in the region,” said Harris. “We cannot expect our officers to ignore the fact that they can just put on a different uniform and cross a municipal line and their salary goes up $20,000, $25,000, $30,000. We will lose people that way. And we have been for a long time.”
Other local leaders have their own ideas about what to do. Bob Swartzwelder, head of Pittsburgh’s Fraternal Order of Police lodge, has long criticized forced overtime hours during events such as Light Up Night and the Pittsburgh Marathon. He thinks local leaders should be realistic about whether those events should still be held in the way they once were.
“If you cannot police what it is you want to police, your strategy for policing, your service levels have to be cut,” he said. That could mean smaller special events, he said, or having event sponsors pay more for policing, as he said happens during Steelers and Pirates games.
Beth Pittinger, executive director of the Citizen Police Review Board, says many proposed solutions have at least some merit. Civilianizing some tasks could help, she said, but it won’t solve everything. Mental-health-call support from OCHS can take some weight off officers’ backs, she says, but the state and county should contribute more to those services.
Pittinger hopes to see a broader conversation about staffing challenges, one that includes asking officers what they need.
“Maybe it's time to have a public discussion with the people doing the job,” Pittinger said.
That’s a development that Harris would like to see, too.
“When you go to people and you ask them, ‘What is it that would improve this job for you?’ you come up with some things that the rest of us wouldn't think of,” he said.
Harris admits the solution to public safety issues “is not always more officers.” Policing may never look the way it did in the past — and in some cases that may not be a bad thing. Arguably it was never a good idea to have officers respond to calls in which, say, someone was experiencing a mental health crisis.
Changes to how officers provide services are “not just efforts to cope with lower numbers,” Harris said: They’re a result of police departments reassessing the best uses of their time.
Some changes can rub citizens “the wrong way,” Harris admits, as when police don’t show up to take a theft report. But he said expectations of what an officer can do after a theft aren't always realistic, and filing an over-the-phone report is often functionally the same as speaking in person.
“What we should keep our eyes on is the big picture,” Harris said. “What's the best use of the time of the officers that we have? I don't think that we can expect, or should expect, things to be like they were 20, 25 years ago.”
