Target 11 Exclusive: New policing strategy to combat uptick in violence on Pittsburgh’s South Side

PITTSBURGH — Target 11 has learned exclusively that Pittsburgh Police plan to implement a new strategy to attack violence on Carson Street.

But that proposal is sparking controversy.

As Investigator Rick Earle discovered, it’s similar to the jump-out squads that were banned under the previous Mayor.

Zone 3 Commander John Fisher defended the proposal and said he needed to do something to address the violence.

“We’ve got to do something down there. we have to bring a sense of stability and safety to the area,” said Fisher.

After a rash of fights and a shooting on the Southside during recent months, Commander John Fisher said he devised a plan to put plainclothes officers in unmarked cars to patrol between the 10th and 18th street corridor along Carson Street, a popular nightspot on the weekends.

While they will be dressed in civilian clothes and patrol in unmarked cars, Fisher told Earle that the officers will be wearing ballistic vests, identifying them as police officers.

“They have to wear their vests which are clearly labeled Pittsburgh Police. They have to have their badge, and they have to fully identify themselves,” said Fisher.

“I think it’s a very bad idea. It’s contrary to all of the recent discussions about the police-citizen relationship, about police reform.  This is a disaster in the making,” said Beth Pittinger, the executive director of the Pittsburgh Citizen Police Review Board.

According to an internal e-mail obtained by Target 11, the plan calls for “10-12 officers and a supervisor to function in plainclothes and unmarked vehicles and to take an assertive posture to address violence, fighting, disorderly people, guns and overall street crime.” There is no mention in the email about officers wearing identifying vests.

“We’ve had incidents where the surprise attack leads to terrible images for the police for the safety of the people who have witnessed or are in the area,” said Pittinger.

After a controversial “jump out” arrest by undercover police officers in an unmarked white van during a Black Lives Matter rally in Oakland two years ago, then-Mayor Bill Peduto banned the practice.

Pittinger said she would prefer to see officers in full uniform.

But Commander Fisher said he doesn’t have the manpower to do that this year. He also tried that approach last year and was criticized.

“Last year, I had 30 officers down there in uniform stretched out along Carson Street and some people say that’s a little intimidating. So you know whatever way I go, I can’t please people,” said Fisher.

“You see people jumping out of an unmarked vehicle, grabbing somebody, and they’re in plainclothes, how do you even know that they’re police officers. You don’t. So it’s a recipe for disaster. It’s a nightmare idea,” said Pittinger.

Commander Fisher said he hopes to launch the patrols in June. It’s an overtime detail and he said the officers won’t work every weekend. He stressed again that they will be required to wear identifying vests.

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