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Police Chief, Other City Officials Address Gun Violence In The City

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The Pittsburgh Police chief and mayor are tackling the issue of violent crime in city neighborhoods in a press conference this afternoon at police headquarters.

Pittsburgh Police Chief Cameron McLay says the number of homicides in the city is on par with the five-year average and is not an epidemic like in other cities.

There were 71 homicides in the City of Pittsburgh in 2014, and so far this year, the city has recorded 41 homicides.

Police Commander Larry Scirotto says 72 percent of violence victims are related to drugs, and homicides down 18 percent from last year.

"We're starting to make a dent," Chief McLay said during the news conference.

"Does Pittsburgh Bureau of Police have enough police officers to meet the demands of this entire city? No. We don't so I'll just say that out loud and be done with it," said McLay.

But in saying that, the chief and the mayor pointed to increased calls from the public, and the use of manpower using more advanced analysis of where crime happens, and saturation patrols with keeping the Pittsburgh crime rate on par with its five year average.

Among the changes city residents can expect to see: a speed up in the process of getting police class recruits onto the streets.

Right now only about forty recruits can be trained at a time.

"What we need to do and what the chief has been looking at options is to be able to have the capacity the physical capacity to do two classes at once," said Mayor Bill Peduto, "and hopefully if we can get that done by the end of this year and have it in the budget we'll be able to have double the number of officers coming in."

Right now 843 officers are on the force.

And until manpower increases, detectives investigating all kinds of crime have bolstered the homicide detective force.

"Prior to May we had 17 homicide investigators," said Commander Larry Scirotto. "Staffing of that unit is 32 detectives that are responsible for all violent crime so that increase in personnel increases capacity for investigation increases thoroughness and responsiveness and does not overwhelm a unit which 71 homicides in 2015 would do to 17 people," Scirotto said.

The 900 officer goal is anticipated to happen by next year.

There's been a recent spike in gun violence in the city, one of the recent hotspots is the Marshall-Shadeland neighborhood.

Last Friday, two men from Carnegie were shot and killed while in a truck on Marshall Avenue. It's the same area where a 44-year-old barber was gunned down in his shop in July as he was closing up.

Two days after that shooting, a 27-year-old pregnant woman was fatally wounded while walking home on Flemming Avenue in nearby Brighton Heights.

In two of the city's recent homicides, the shooting victims were teenagers.

And while particular areas seem to be seeing an upsurge in crime, Chief McLay said you have to look at more than just the neighborhoods.

"It can be a mistake to focus too much on the place, because the people engaged in criminal activity are highly mobile," said Chief McLay. "The fact that they live in a neighborhood doesn't mean that's where the problems are."

Chief McLay says police can't do it alone.

"We need to work well with the community to identify who that tiny percentage of the population is that's actually doing the criminal conduct, and really focus on them," he said.

As he marks the end of his first year in office, Chief McLay says more police presence on the street may be a necessity. That means hiring additional officers and also some re-shuffling of current staff.

"Staffing is an issue," Chief McLay said. "So we're going to looking at our staffing, distributing them as best we can. We also have to look at maybe there's some work that we do, that officers aren't going to do anymore, so we can focus them strategically on what work best helps reduce the violence and disorder that's harming the community."

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