The Fraternal Order of Police is warning that the public is at risk in Pittsburgh due to staffing shortages in the city.
Former Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto froze police hiring in response to the Black Lives Matter riots in 2020.
CBS News reports, “In 2023, 102 officers left the bureau: 46 resigned, 55 retired, and one died of natural causes. That leaves the bureau with 735 sworn officers and 12 command staff, which the union calls the lowest staffing levels anyone can remember.”
The situation is so dire that Robert Swartzwelder, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, has issued a warning to residents.
“Citizens of the City of Pittsburgh and its visitors should be alarmed at these numbers,” Swartzwelder wrote in the statement. “Citizens should be concerned for being overcharged on their taxes regarding police services they are not receiving and general public safety reasons.”
Along with residents, visitors should also “be concerned” about their safety in the city, Swartzwelder said.
“Visitors should be concerned about slower or absent police response as well as personal safety when they visit the City. The FOP has sounded the alarm for many years regarding this issue while the Mayor’s administration and police administration mislead the public into believing all is well in the City.”
CBS asked Pittsburgh Police Chief Larry Scirotto if the shortage is jeopardizing the public.
“It makes me re-evaluate where our resources are directed,” Scirotto replied.
According to the report, “Since becoming chief in May, Scirotto says he has re-directed and redeployed officers to better protect and serve, eliminating responses to non-essential police calls and taking officers out of administration positions and returning them to patrol, saying while the overall numbers have fallen there are now more police on the street.”
“I don’t believe the public’s safety is in jeopardy,” Scirotto said. “I don’t believe our officers’ safety is in jeopardy. If I did believe that, I wouldn’t stand in front of you and tell you otherwise.”
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