The Pittsburgh Police Department will no longer send officers to respond. Some 911 calls, WPXI-TV It was reported on Friday.
The news organization said Pittsburgh police officers will not respond to calls regarding criminal mischief, theft, harassment and burglary alerts. Instead, these calls and other similar emergencies are handled by our telephone reporting department or online reporting.
According to recent information, press release The department says, “For calls that do not require a direct response by an officer, dispatch will assign the report to TRU.”
The report states, “For calls that are ‘in progress’ where a suspect may be on scene, a crime that requires medical assistance, a domestic dispute, a call with evidence, or where a mobile crime unit is located, It was pointed out that TRUs are not allocated. You have been asked to process a scene. ”
Chief Larry Sirotto said the department receives about 200,000 calls a year, but he expects the changes to reduce that total to about 50,000.
Currently, the department’s main complaints typically involve parking violations. To free up officers, Sirotto said he is developing a plan to allow the Pittsburgh Parking Authority to handle all parking complaints in the future.
“This allows police officers to be involved in the community in a way, and instead of sitting on the 10th Street Bypass with a bicycle complaint, they’re at the YMCA,” he told WPXI.
Starting Monday, police officers will go from working five days a week for eight hours to working four days a week for 10 hours with three consecutive days off. The department said the schedule change would “improve the health status of our officers.” In addition, police officers will be given one hour of “wellness time” per week “to use at their discretion.”
“Taking an extra day off from work each week to focus on family, friends, or outside business is key to creating a healthy workforce and not only recruiting new police officers, but retaining them for the long term.” “It also contributes to the department’s goals,” Sirott said. .
The department also announced that it will not have officers in any of the department’s six police zones from 3 a.m. to 7 a.m. and will instead install “blue phones with direct access to 9-1-1.”
“There is no data to support staffing the zone from 3 a.m. to 7 a.m.. There is no exception as a one-time exception,” Sirotto argued.
The department’s changes also mean only 22 officers will be on duty some nights, which Sirotto said is “enough to cover the entire city during those hours.” .
“Following a thorough audit of how police resources are allocated, these improvements are backed by data and will ensure that the Pittsburgh Police Department serves the city in the most efficient and responsible manner and that the police “Ensuring that we focus on areas of concern to improve quality of life,” “Improve neighborhood life, improve community-police collaboration, and prioritize officer well-being.” .These are my key priorities for the department, and they will only serve to strengthen public safety in our city,” Sirotto said.
Bob Schwartzwelder, president of the Pittsburgh Fraternal Order of Police, described the department’s new strategy as a “direct response to severely understaffed police departments.”
“Time will tell if the plan works. If it doesn’t, the Secretary will have to quickly pivot and change the plan. We will closely monitor for contract breaches when non-emergency events occur, such as large concerts, July 4th, etc. In short, the FOP believes that the police department is severely overstretched and under-resourced,” Schwarzwelder added.
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