‘It’s everywhere’: A look at how officials are handling the drug problem in Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH — For the last several months, people have called parts of Downtown Pittsburgh an “open-air drug market.”

While police have been working to get dealers behind bars, sometimes it takes less than a day for those dealers to get back on the streets.

Despite the countless police officers patrolling the downtown area, including Market Square, there’s no question that drugs are a problem in Pittsburgh.

“It’s everywhere. You see it on the corners, in the alleys, out on the main streets. It’s everywhere,” Rick Adams, who works downtown, told Channel 11.

Recently, Pittsburgh Police detectives have been investigating multiple drug trafficking complaints downtown. Since June 28, officers have made 38 arrests, and many of them resulted in felony charges.

Most recently, Downtown Public Safety officers arrested Dwaine Dobbins, who they say was selling crack cocaine in Market Square.

“It’s pretty bad. You’re afraid to go out to lunch because you don’t know what you’re going to encounter,” one woman told us.

The officer wrote in the complaint, “The man was known to me from multiple, previous arrests.”

In the past, Dobbins was accused of dealing drugs outside of the Smithfield Street Homeless Shelter and was let out on bond every time. Once he was released, police say he dealt drugs again.

“It’s easy to pay money and just get out and keep doing what they’re doing,” Adams added.

Our question — why aren’t Dobbins and other accused dealers kept in jail — to prevent them from preying on addicts, and to keep drugs off of our streets?

Legal Analyst Blaine Jones weighed in.

“A lot of the times judges will say - is it a crime of violence? Now, it can be argued that selling drugs is a crime of violence, but the counter-argument is that it’s a non-violent crime,” Jones said.

Plus — our crowded county jail doesn’t help.

“You have an Allegheny County Jail that’s filled to capacity. A lot of the times, we try to figure out an alternative to putting someone in jail for these types of crimes,” Jones added.

We took our questions to District Attorney Stephen Zappala who said he’s directed some of his staff to get details on the cases and the judges who made the decisions.

We will update this story when the DA provides more information.

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