Short-Staffed Police Department Announces 4-Hour Daily Service Lapse

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(NewsWorthy.news) – Pittsburgh’s Bureau of Police has announced that no officers will be present in dispatch offices from 3 A.M. to 7 A.M. daily in response to staff shortages.

Pittsburgh police chief Larry Scirotto stated that, according to data, 33% of personnel were working during the 3 A.M. to 7 A.M. period despite having 8% of their call volume during these hours. In February Scirotto announced that officers would not respond to calls unless they were in-progress crimes, regardless of the time of day. The decision means that calls relating to harassment, theft, criminal mischief and burglary alarms among other concerns would be dealt with by online reporting and telephone reporting rather than being handled as emergency calls.

Pittsburgh is not alone in dealing with a short-staffed police bureau; Baltimore’s police union has warned that the city’s police department is at breaking point. Democratic Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott commented that while homicide rates were down public safety had gone in the opposite direction. Scott claimed that Baltimore was no different from any other city in struggling to recruit enough police officers. The mayor claimed that lawmakers in Annapolis were responsible for not addressing rising property crimes and quality of life crimes, saying that arrests are happening thanks to the city’s police department but that suspects are being “let out”.

In March 2024 Pittsburgh police officer Keith Edmonds was reinstated having tasered a man who later died. During the 2021 incident, police arrested Jim Rogers over a bicycle theft. Edmonds reportedly shocked the man ten times with his taser and had his job terminated in March 2022 before appealing the decision through the Fraternal Order of Police.

Scirotto has claimed that the cutting of staff hours in Pittsburgh is necessary and that there is no data to justify having personnel in the offices during the early hours. The chief’s decision comes as the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police shrinks to only 740 officers. Scirotto stands his ground over his claims despite pushback against the cuts.