A major metropolitan police force recently announced that it will be implementing significant cutbacks.
To address officer shortages, Pittsburgh's Bureau of Police will no longer staff officers in dispatch offices between 3 a.m. to 7 a.m. daily.
Police Chief Larry Scirotto noted that during early morning hours the bureau had only 8% of its call volume, yet 33% of its personnel was working.
The fact remains the city's police department is losing officers to retirements and resignations much faster than it can replace them, reflecting a nationwide trend. Scirotto, who has led the department for less than a year, oversees a dwindling force of about 740 officers. Only 24 new officers graduated from the academy this year. Leading up to the pandemic-era, the city regularly graduated up to 90 recruits each year. At the same time, retirements and registrations varied between 40 and 60. In 2023, 102 officers left the force. (RELATED: The Erosion Of Justice In America: A Disturbing Trend)
Desperate to plug the gaps, Breitbart's Awr Hawkins reports that Chief Scirotto has already implemented measures to stretch his depleted force, including ordering officers not to respond to 911 calls not reporting in-progress emergencies, no matter the time of day:
11 News noted that Scirotto's announcement “essentially means that calls for criminal mischief, theft, harassment, and burglary alarms, just to name a few, will all be handled by the telephone reporting unit or online reporting.”
There has been pushback against the cuts but thus far, Scirotto is standing his ground.
American Military News quoted Scirotto saying, “There is not any data to support us having our zones manned by personnel from 3 am to 7 am…For the very one off instance I can't make an exception.”
A report published in October 2023 by Our America revealed a significant increase in crime rates in Pittsburgh, raising concerns about public safety in the city. According to the Major Cities Chief Association's mid-2023 report, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults increased compared to the previous year.
Though homicides dropped 27% in 2023 after a 46% increase from 2021 to 2022 – they remain above pre-pandemic levels.
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