The Pittsburgh Bureau of Police has “excessively high staffing levels,” says a report commissioned by Mayor Ed Gainey. The report praised the bureau’s response times, but recommended a significant reallocation of officers.
The report, released Wednesday, was conducted by Matrix Consulting Group.
In a news conference Wednesday morning, police Chief Larry Scirotto discussed the report and its findings alongside Gainey and Public Safety Director Lee Schmidt. Scirotto said that he agrees with some findings but disagrees with others. Gainey called the report a “blueprint” rather than a specific policy directive.
The 175-page report, which is available publicly, focuses on the bureau’s allocation of officers and their workload while on patrol. It found that officers have an “extraordinary level of proactive time available” — meaning that they are not overtaxed during patrol hours, and have time to engage with the community. Other comparable metropolitan cities have a considerably lower amount of proactive time available, according to the report.
Matrix is a public policy consulting firm that has conducted law enforcement analysis for cities such as Raleigh, N.C., and Kansas City, Mo. Pittsburgh City Council paid it $180,000 to conduct the report, which was authorized last summer. Gainey said that the city waited to release the report until the hiring of Scirotto as the new police chief.
Pittsburgh, said the report, has the highest staffing level relative to its population among large metropolitan police agencies. With more time left over during patrol hours, officers are more likely to pursue “self-initiated activity.” As a result of this “exceptional” overstaffing, Matrix recommended that the bureau reallocate officers to new roles.
“Given these findings, PBP has a rare, if not unique, opportunity to achieve a community-centric level of service that other police agencies do not have the resources to accomplish,” the report said.
It recommended expanding the Community Resource Officer program, sending 45 officers to work in schools and communities to “problem solve” and “address quality of life issues.” Additionally, it recommended putting more resources toward violent crime in an effort to prevent gun violence. The consultants found that the bureau could reallocate 188 officers from patrol without a reduction in the quality of service.
Scirotto disagreed with the reallocation recommendation. He and Gainey emphasized their pride in the department’s low response times and said the current number of budgeted officers, 900, is appropriate.
“I stay committed to this number of 900,” Scirotto said.
In response to the report’s description of officers having extra time while on duty, he said the report provides a “minimum,” and that he is happy with the bureau’s “excellent” services.
Scirotto also disagreed with the report’s recommendation of an expansion of the community resource program. He said he has a different outlook on how best to approach outreach.
“I am of the belief that our police department, all 900 men and women, are community-oriented police officers,” he said.
The report’s findings stand in stark contrast to the public posturing of the Fraternal Order of Police. President Robert Swartzwelder has complained of understaffing over the past year in the media and in front of City Council. He called it an “absolute crisis” in May and said that it’s “terrifying” for the city in an interview with WPXI.
“The staffing levels we have are not in crisis,” Scirotto said at the news conference.
In comments to PublicSource, Swartzwelder disagreed with the report, citing officers that the bureau has lost over the past year. The current number of uniformed police is 781, the FOP told PublicSource.
The FOP has not yet responded to a request for comment from the Union Progress.
The Matrix report concluded with a survey of officers, finding that they were pessimistic about the direction of the bureau and felt overtaxed in their roles. The survey said 83% of officers felt that they did not have sufficient proactive time to address community problems; 86% disagreed with the statement “The city’s leadership supports the Bureau.”
Scirotto said that his primary takeaway from the report is that the bureau can work to ensure that officers are allocated during times of high activity. He believes that placing officers strategically will help to allocate resources more efficiently.
Gainey said that the department is introducing new recruiting classes to bring the department back up to its full budgeted number of 900.
Harrison, a rising senior at Denison University, is a Union Progress summer intern. Email him at hhamm@unionprogress.com.