Pittsburgh councilperson responds to concern over decrease in police officers working overnight

PITTSBURGH — On Sundays, five Southside entertainment officers are on patrol from 7 p.m. to midnight as part of a crackdown on crime in the area.

But, according to Channel 11 sources, those five entertainment officers were moved to help with the homicide that happened on East Warrington Avenue on March 3.

>>> Man dies from injuries in Pittsburgh shooting; 2 others recovering

While they helped with homicide — Zone 6 officers came to replace them.

“That’s not something that is unusual. It’s not something that just happened because of the new staffing changes. It’s a usual occurrence in the city,” Councilperson Bob Charland, who represents the Southside, told Channel 11.

While Charland says it’s not unusual, there were several moving parts to make sure each area was covered.

“It’s like anything else. If you’re overstaffed somewhere and understaffed somewhere else, you need to make sure you’re in an equilibrium, and keeping people safe,” Charland said.

For weeks, we’ve been telling you about the number of changes when it comes to Pittsburgh Police staffing.

>>> Big changes to Pittsburgh Bureau of Police staffing are in effect

Perhaps the most concerning to those who live in the city is how many officers are working overnight

The number of officers working from 3-7 a.m. has been reduced based on call volume during those hours. Those officers are told to respond to “in progress” emergency calls — and ignore other calls like burglaries and harassment, which will go to a telephone reporting unit.

“Is there any other large city in the country that has a part-time police department? Does that make any sense to any of you guys? It doesn’t to me,” District Attorney Stephen Zappala said.

Zappala told us he wants to have a sit-down meeting with the Chief — in hopes of understanding the cutback in overnight officers.

“To tell people that you’re not going be protected at certain hours of the day, that doesn’t make any sense to me when I heard it. I don’t know what the rationale of that is, and I think that’s something the chief has to explain,” Zappala said.

Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW

©2024 Cox Media Group