New recruits join Pittsburgh police force; chief addresses staffing changes

PITTSBURGH — Wednesday night, 24 new officers took the oath to serve and protect. They’re the newest graduates from the Pittsburgh Police Academy and now they’re ready to hit the streets.

The recruits are joining the force amid cuts to overnight patrols Police Chief Larry Scirotto put in place last week.

“It depends on the days,” Scirotto said. “Some days, there are 28 [officers] and a commander; some days there are 55 [officers]; some days there are 40 [officers].”

Those officers will be working from 3 to 7 a.m. responding to only “in-progress” emergency calls. Other calls go through a telephone reporting unit.

“We don’t have very many crimes of violence in those periods of time,” said Scirotto.

Scirotto told Channel 11′s Antoinette DelBel that he believes the staffing changes are working.

The chief defended his decision after Sunday’s incident when Channel 11 sources said five South Side patrol officers were moved to help out in a triple shooting that turned into a homicide in Allentown.

“We are nimble and fluid enough that when one of those emergencies occurs that we respond with rapid deployment with the right amount of personnel to keep the community safe and officers safe,” Scirotto said.

Allegheny County District Attorney  Stephen Zappala isn’t convinced.

“To tell people that you’re not gonna be protected at certain hours of the day - that doesn’t make any sense to me when I heard it,” Zappala said. “Is there any other large city in the country that has a part-time police department? Does that make any sense to any of you guys? It doesn’t to me.”

Scirotto said he’s willing to sit down with the DA any time to address his concerns.

“We’re not a part-time police department by any stretch of the imagination,” he said. “At the end of the day, we have more officers out there than we’ve ever had in the periods that are the busiest and that’s from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. We’re always going to be concerned. It’s something we haven’t done before, so I understand the unease.”

Scirotto said he will add more officers to the overnight shift during the summer months.

The chief also told Channel 11 that some of the changes are due to shortages in the police force. Wednesday’s new class of recruits will bring the force up to 764 officers. The chief wants to get it to 850 officers.

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