Pittsburgh's safest communities revealed

PITTSBURGH — Channel 11 News knows safety is your top priority. You want to know about crimes in your community, and what’s being done to keep you and your family safe.

Target 11 Investigator Rick Earle looked through crime statistics for local neighborhoods and learned which are the safest and what police are doing that works.

Earle found the South Park Police Department has a strategy to keep residents safe. Instead of waiting for calls and responding, they’re responding before the calls come in.

“I leave my car open all the time, so I don’t worry about it,” said South Park resident Paul Patterson.

Patterson has good reason not to worry because he lives in a community with few property crimes, including burglary, theft, motor vehicle theft and arson.

“I’m not surprised by the ranking. I’m very, very happy about the ranking for the township and the residents,” said South Park police Chief Dennis McDonough.

McDonough credits high visibility patrols, aggressive officers and conscientious neighbors.

“It’s a close-knit community where everyone knows everyone else. It just helps make our job easier,” said McDonough.

Target 11 analyzed 858 communities tracked by the FBI to find out which large communities have the lowest percentage of property crime for its population.

In Allegheny County, the top community was South Park. In Westmoreland County, Penn Township leads the way.

In Butler County, Adams Township was tops. In Washington County, Peters Township was the safest.

“The police are very good. They’ll stop by your house if you’re on vacation and walk around the perimeter. People look out for each other here in Peters,” said Peters Township resident Gina Wells.

Target 11 discovered something not so visible that’s making a big difference in Peters Township.

Peters police Chief Harry Fruecht began analyzing and mapping crime stats a couple years ago. What he saw jumped off the pages.

“This is where the crime was. This is where the guys, they weren’t directed to be in this area all the time, but this is the area they worked the most,” said Fruecht.

The crime was happening in the area with the most vehicle crashes, so Fruecht redeployed his officers.

“We mandated that they have to spend so many hours each shift in this area. The result of that effort, we reduced crime in this area by 20 percent,” said Fruecht.

Fruecht told Earle that his department will continue to focus on this proactive effort.

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