Pittsburgh police changing South Side patrol method after recent shootings

PITTSBURGH — An internal Pittsburgh police memo obtained exclusively by Channel 11 News details the new plan for patrolling the side street and alleyways off East Carson Street.

The new strategy comes after a shooting early Sunday morning that left a man seriously hurt.

The officers permanently assigned to patrolling the busy strip were able to get to the man quickly.

Johnny Weidmann heard the gunfire around 2:30 a.m. He lives on 17th Street, half a block away from where the shooting happened.

“The police, I think did a good job, but it’s just upsetting that this happens when there are police walking the beat down here,” Weidmann said.

That shooting is just one of three in the South Side in three weeks, according to police.

Vance Borio, who runs SouthSide Beverages in Wharton Square, a few blocks up from Carson Street, said he was working Friday night when there was a drive-by shooting in that plaza.

Thankfully, he said no one was hurt.

“It’s got to stop. This violence has got to stop,” Borio said. “Stuff’s stupid. It’s stupid. It’s stupid stuff.”

The ‘Entertainment Patrol’ began this summer after an uptick in violence on East Carson.

“It’s definitely improved,” Weidmann said. “We had more of a Mardi Gras atmosphere where there was open containers, a lot [of] smoking of non-tobacco products, things like that, a lot of people partying out of cars. The patrols have definitely helped calm that down.”

Now, the focus is being shifted to the crime that’s been starting to spill over into the alleyways and streets off Carson.

An additional four officers will be patrolling 10th Street up to 21st Street Thursday through Sunday nights from 6 p.m. to 4 a.m. That brings the total number of officers patrolling the South Side to 11.

“I think it’ll help immensely, immensely,” Borio said.

Rich Cupka, who owns Cupka’s Cafe 2 on East Carson, believes more officers are needed to make the South Side safer.

“Four officers is not enough,” Cupka said. “We need at least 20 to 25 officers down here every Thursday through Sunday just to make an impact.”

A neighborhood group called the South Side Community Action Network (CAN) will hold a forum on Tuesday night, Oct. 17 at 6 p.m. at the Market House on 12th and Bingham Streets. Neighbor Night is open to everyone to talk about ways to improve safety on the South Side.

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