Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, police have stopped responding to 911 calls that are not reporting in-progress emergencies, with the chief saying cops should be “engaged in community” instead of worried about “bike complaints.”
The change took place on Monday, with Pittsburgh Bureau of Police Chief Larry Scirotto saying the goal is to cut the approximately 200,000 calls the department receives each year down to just 50,000, 11 News reports.
“That 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,” the outlet explained.
According to Scirotto, his officers will be available for more important activities.
“That allows our officers to be engaged in community in a way, now they’re at the YMCA instead of sitting on the 10th Street bypass with a bike complaint,” the chief told the station.
The department has also made drastic staffing changes, announcing in a press release that no desk officers will be on duty at any of the six zone stations between 3:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m.
Instead of actual people, call boxes linked to 911 dispatch have been installed at the precinct stations for emergencies.
“There is not any data to supports [sic] us having our zones manned by personnel from 3 a.m. to 7 a.m. For the very one-off instance I can’t make an exception,” said Scirotto.
While Pittsburgh’s population is over 300,000, the police force’s schedule has been changed so that just 22 officers will be on duty to cover the entire city on some overnight shifts.
“Yes, it’s enough to cover the entire city at those hours when we have 8 percent of the time people are calling,” said Scirotto.
The president of the Pittsburgh Police Officers’ Union released a statement to 11 News in support of the bureau:
The staffing plan designed by police command is a direct response to a seriously understaffed police department. Only time will tell if the plan works or the Chief will need to pivot and modify his plan quickly. The FOP [Fraternal Order of Police]. will be watching carefully for any contract violations that develop especially when non-emergency events come up such as St. Patrick’s Day, parades, large concerts, July 4th etc. In short, the FOP believes that the police department is seriously over-committed and under-resourced.
Concerned citizens took to social media with their thoughts on the policy changes.
“Useless…you’re actively being killed, I guess,” wrote one Pittsburgh resident on X.
A Chicago police scanner account also drew attention to the news, calling the decision “insane.”
“Your package was stolen 15 minutes ago? No police response. Your car was taken 30 minutes ago? No police response. You were threatened ten minutes ago? No police response,” the crime news page wrote.
“They will divert people to submit reports over the phone or online.”