Pittsburgh investing in fight against violent crime

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh leaders will soon get some help in trying to curb the recent spike in violent crimes.

Crime scene tape and flashing lights have become an all too familiar sight on Pittsburgh streets this summer, with crime on the rise.

Now city and state leaders are looking at long-term solutions to resolve an ongoing problem.

“We have to really look at violence prevention in a broad way: as initiatives that really address the root causes of this violence, (just) as we do with the initiatives that address and interrupt the violence as it’s actually happening,” Rev. Paul Abernathy of the Neighborhood Resilience Project said.

That means resuming face-to-face meetings with families and neighbors dealing with violence regularly.

It’s the type of solution state leaders are also looking to be part of, setting aside $30 million for community violence prevention programs in the state budget signed into law last week by Gov. Tom Wolf.

The money will be distributed in block grants statewide.

Pittsburgh City Councilman Corey O’Connor said investing in neighborhood violence prevention measures is a priority for the city, and this money will help them reach that goal.

“When you’re talking about a different form of public safety in supporting neighborhood groups, our police officers and preventing violence down the road are really important,” O’Connor said.

The funding is expected to help in the coming months and years, but in the meantime gun violence continues to rise in Pittsburgh with no end in sight.

Many intervention programs were paused during the pandemic, and Abernathy believes the time has come for them to resume.

“We have now the resources I believe to make this happen safely. But we need really to move on this, and it has to be done today,” he said.

While the city of Pittsburgh doesn’t know exactly how much it will receive, O’Connor is confident it will be enough to make a dent in violent crime, stopping it before it can even begin.

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