PITTSBURGH — The special agent in charge of Pittsburgh’s FBI office says newly released data shows efforts to get drugs, guns, and violent criminals off the streets are working.
“My marching orders here from this field office as the leader is to make sure that we’re doing everything we possibly can to identify those most violent offenders and get them into custody,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard Evanchec said.
Evanchec says recent crime stats show a huge drop in violent crime from 2024 to 2025 here in Pennsylvania.
Murder dropped 20.6%, and robberies are down 14%.
Evanchec attributes it to recent operations, like Steel Reaper in Pittsburgh, that led to the arrest of 15 violent offenders and the confiscation of eight guns.
The FBI, along with local and state law enforcement, conducted similar operations in Allegheny, Washington, and Lawrence counties this year.
“We are just really pleased that the data is showing that our targeted enforcement, our increasing partnerships, increasing resources that we have to counter and crush violent crime, those dividends are paying off,” Evanachec said.
Evanachec also addressed crimes involving younger offenders. Just last week, a 15-year-old girl was arrested after firing an AK-47 at two juveniles in Clairton.
Earlier this year, eight teens as young as 14 were charged in a rash of gun store burglaries.
“It can’t just be a law enforcement problem; you know we’ve got to have community leaders. We’ve got to have community organizations. Part of it, because we can’t arrest our way out of this, especially with the kid as young as 13 or 14 years old, which is what we are seeing,” Evanchec said.
While feeling good about the numbers, which show a 9.3% decrease in violent crime across the country, Evanchec acknowledges the work is far from over.
“The leadership in law enforcement knows that there is still work to do, and you can expect in the next coming months there’s going to be more announcements of more people being rounded up and more narcotics taken off our streets. So, stay tuned for more news,” Evanchec said.
He also credited partnerships with local law enforcement like the Pittsburgh Police and Allegheny County Police for the reduction in violent crime.
He said the recent NFL Draft in Pittsburgh, which went off without a hitch, was an example of that partnership.
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