Don’t shoot to celebrate 2020, city warns
System will detect and locate gunshots on Dec. 31
Pittsburgh’s Public Safety Department is preparing for a New Year’s Eve display that only they will see: The annual lighting up of the ShotSpotter system.
The system, which covers 18 square miles of Pittsburgh — around a third of the city — uses powerful microphones to detect and locate gunshots, and occasionally misreads fireworks as a firearms discharge.
On New Year’s Eve, according to city Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich, the system’s display “lights up like a Christmas tree” as people fire guns or fireworks into the air. He said the system picked up dozens of gunshots in the minutes leading up to midnight of New Year’s Eve last year.
The Pittsburgh Bureau of Police will be staffed to respond to every incident of apparent gunfire, he said.
“There’s a good possibility that if you fire a shot, you’re going to see a police officer relatively soon,” said Mr. Hissrich. If you don’t see an officer that evening, you might still get a knock on the door in the
days that follow, he added, because ShotSpotter can often pin down the address from which a gun was fired.
Deputy Police Chief Thomas Stangrecki noted that bullets fired into the air can fall on people or buildings. Firing a gun within the city is a summary offense, and depending on circumstances, more serious charges such as recklessly endangering another person, criminal mischief or assault can also apply.
The city will be operating a command center at Police Headquarters on the North Side, with access to the many security cameras posted throughout the city, and will be communicating with federal law enforcement, Mr. Hissrich said. So far, there is no indication of a specific threat related to Pittsburgh’s New Year’s celebration, he added.
Allegheny County sheriffs and police, state police and Port Authority police will be helping out Downtown, he added. Some 50,000 to 75,000 people are expected Downtown on Tuesday night, he said, for the annual First Night mix of arts and fireworks.
Preparations for First Night events will start around 10 a.m. Tuesday, when some Downtown streets will shut down. By 6 p.m., parts of Stanwix Street, Penn Avenue, Seventh Street, Ninth Street, Exchange Way, Garrison Place, McCrea Place,
Barkers Place, Scott Place, Cecil Place and the Fifth Avenue Extension will be closed to cars.
Bike lanes will remain open, though cyclists are reminded to be courteous to pedestrians, Mr. Hissrich said.
He urged people in Pittsburgh to obey the law by avoiding the use of fireworks within 150 feet of structures, and using taxis, ride shares, public transit or designated drivers if they drink alcohol.