PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Police Bureau is poised to place nearly 900 officers on the streets for the first time in 15 years, Mayor Bill Peduto said Friday.
Seven new officers were sworn in Friday at police headquarters, bringing the number of officers to 891. With two more classes ready to graduate this year, the number is expected to climb to 921, the highest since 2002.
“It’s absolutely imperative that we stay above 900,” Peduto said.
Facing dire financial problems in 2004, the city was forced to let officers go and relatively few recruits were hired in subsequent years. During the last year, the city has struggled to get enough officers to work special events.
“A lot of these officers are being overworked because of all the special events that are happening. They’re ending up doing their shift and they’re doing overtime on a special event and it’s taken a toll,” Peduto said.
Peduto said that during his administration, the hiring of new officers has outpaced the number of officers leaving to retire or seek other employment. Since 2014, 279 officers have been hired, while 177 either retired or left.
There are questions as to how the city will pay for the new hires. The mayor said he hopes a federal grant will continue and said it’s critical to increase community policing.
The mayor claims Friday’s event drew an angry response from the police union. According to Peduto, union officials said the command staff continues to increase, but the number of patrol officers is decreasing.