Democrats in charge of Pittsburgh have decided that police officers do not need to respond to crime unless it is an emergency, sparking outcry from citizens worried about their property.
Democrats have won every mayoral race in the Steel City since the 1930s.
CBS News discussed the excuses being pushed by the police chief to allow the police to stop fewer and fewer crimes.
The decision was made after the bureau’s Crime Analysis Unit was asked to compile data on the nearly 9,100 burglar alarm calls in 2023 and found that less than half a percent — 0.43% — generated police reports. Of those 39 incidents, the city says six involved a real alarm, a break-in occurring or a suspect who was nearby.
Under the current model, police respond to all burglar alarms, even if the alarm company can’t verify them. But Police Chief Larry Scirotto says these calls resulted in nearly 4,200 police staff hours with an average of 13.5 minutes spent per unit.
“This is not a cost-effective or productive use of officers’ time that could be spent bolstering community engagement efforts, increasing training time, expanding proactive patrols, and prioritizing officer wellness initiatives,” Scirotto said in a press release. “Several cities across the U.S. have adopted this model which has resulted in cost savings for residents without sacrificing service quality or public safety.”
Police will now respond to medical alert alarms, secondary to EMS, and human-activated hold-up and panic alarms. They’ll respond to priority locations where an unauthorized intrusion has the potential to become a larger threat to public safety, like at government buildings or medical facilities. Officers will also come for verified burglar alarms where someone can provide reliable information and they’ll respond to multiple progressive alarm activations.
In 2022, Pittsburgh had its highest number of murders in nearly a decade.
This is not the first time that Pittsburgh’s chief of police, Larry Scirotto, has been wrapped up in controversy.
In 2022, while serving as Fort Lauderdale, Florida’s police chief, Scirotto became obsessed with DEI and lost his job in less than a year because he was openly discriminating against white applicants for internal promotions.
A local news outlet stated that an “investigation concluded that during his time as police chief, Scirotto implemented an approach to hiring and promotion that was unfairly focused on minority candidates.”
An investigation by the city reported that Scirotto once pointed to a conference room wall displaying photos of the department’s command staff and stated, “That wall is too white,” and “I’m gonna change that.”
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