Pittsburgh Police are planning a busy weekend, with an Elton John concert and the Pittsburgh Steelers home opener.
“With big events, there will be additional officers,” acting police chief Thomas Stangrecki said Thursday, explaining that the bureau was working with other agencies.
The department is understaffed, he said, and is using “all of our specialist resources” to fill the gaps. This includes community engagement specialists assisting in schools and mounted units providing additional patrols in various neighborhoods and “problem areas”.
The police bureau currently has about 845 officers, Stangrecki said, down from their budget of 900. The department started the year with 913 officers, but saw 68 retire or resign throughout. of the year.
Officials recently announced that new police classes are expected to be launched in the coming months to train additional officers.
“Hopefully they will be assigned to the office in a few months,” Stangrecki said.
Thefts of catalytic converters
At a press briefing, police also addressed what Detective Don Pasquarelli called a “dramatic rise” in catalytic converter thefts across the city this year.
In 2019, five thefts of catalytic converters were recorded. In 2020, there were four. This number has increased to 171 stolen catalytic converters in 2021, and 182 catalytic converter thefts have already been reported this year.
Thefts are “constant and somewhat equal” in all areas of the city, he said, reflecting a national trend in catalytic converter thefts.
Catalytic converters – which reduce vehicle emissions – are made of metals like rhodium and platinum.
“Thieves target catalytic converters because they contain these precious metals that can be sold for a high price,” Pasquarelli said.
He urged residents to park their cars in garages or fenced, well-lit areas when possible. Vehicle-pointing home cameras can also help deter thieves or help police identify and catch anyone who steals catalytic converters.
“If you see something, say something,” Pasquarelli said. “It’s the public – you are the eyes and ears of the department.”
Violence
Officials also spoke about the violence this week.
“It was a busy 24 hours in the city,” said Cmdr. Richard Ford of the bureau’s Major Crimes Division said, referring to unrelated shootings that left three people injured in the city’s Hill District neighborhood on Wednesday night.
A 3-year-old boy suffered a head wound and a man was shot in the thumb in a shooting at the 2800 block of Center Avenue before 10 p.m. Wednesday. The victims were injured during an argument in an apartment and both are in stable condition.
Davont Spencer-Johnson, 24, of Brentwood, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, common assault, endangering the welfare of a child and recklessly endangering another nobody. He is the father of the 3-year-old boy who was injured, Ford said, and other children who were at the scene are currently in the care of their grandmother.
In an unrelated incident Wednesday night, police were notified of a ShotSpotter alert in the 2000 block of Center Avenue. Around the same time, a man with gunshot wounds to the chest walked into the Zone 2 police station, where police provided first aid until he was taken to hospital.
Investigations are ongoing into both shootings, Ford said.
Police also arrested 17-year-old Nazair Macon on Wednesday in connection with the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old and the wounding of two others in a May incident in the city’s Allentown neighborhood.
So far this year, the city has recorded 48 homicides. That’s an increase of about 9% from the 44 homicides in the city this time last year, Ford said.
Julia Felton is editor of Tribune-Review. You can contact Julia by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .
