Crime down in first half of year but up in June
Property crimes, violence and other illegal activity across Pittsburgh saw a significant decrease in the first six months of the year, but June trends show a climb in numbers, according to Pittsburgh police.
While homicides have always fluctuated, a decline in overall crime in Pittsburgh continued in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. City police reported last week that Pittsburgh saw a 16.4% decrease in overall crime between Jan. 1 and June 30 compared with the same time last year. Crime in Pittsburgh has seen a 24.7% decrease overall compared with the past five years across all six police zones, city police spokeswoman Cara Cruz reported.
A portion of the data was released from the city police’s annual Uniform Crime Report. Part I crimes are broken into two main categories: violent crimes and property crimes. The former includes murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Violent crimes saw a 15% decrease in the first six months of 2020, compared with an average from the past five years, the report stated. Property crimes (such as burglary, theft and arson) were cut nearly in half over the past 5½ years.
City police said they remain alert to changing crime patterns.
“As we have seen, some businesses closed temporarily, others have remained closed, and many residents remained home in an effort to slow the pandemic,” Ms. Cruz said in an emailed statement. “While the Bureau doesn’t ascribe
causation when looking at raw numbers, some of the above-noted societal changes may have impacted crime patterns.”
Although the first six months of the year saw decline, overall crime across all six police zones in June rose by 6% from the previous month. The total number of violent crimes in May — which had steadily decreased since January — was 119, police said. By the end of June, that number increased to 126. Property crimes increased by almost 4% between May and June, online data shows.
Police Zone 2, which covers Lawrenceville, the Strip District, Polish Hill, the Hill District and Downtown; and Zone 5, stationed in Highland Park, were the only two zones of the city that saw a decrease in crime between May and June, according to police data. Zone 1, stationed on the North Side, saw the largest leap in crime between May and June at 18%, police reported.
Zone 1 covers Allegheny Center, Allegheny West, Brighton Heights, California-Kirkbride, Central Northside, Chateau, East Allegheny, Fineview, Manchester, Marshall-Shadeland, Northview Heights and other North Side neighborhoods. Despite the uptick between May and June, this zone saw a 21% decrease in crime from June of last year.
All six zones saw between 7% and 21% declines in violence and property crimes from last year. The police report states that Zone 6, which oversees Chartiers City, Crafton Heights, East Carnegie, Elliott, Esplen, Fairywood, Oakwood, Ridgemont, Sheraden, West End, Westwood and Windgap — had the smallest overall decrease in crime from last year at 7%.
Details of incidents Downtown for the first six months of 2020 were not available.
Violent crime Downtown became a flashpoint last year, with Mayor Bill Peduto clashing with the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust over ways to address concerns about what the trust called “a declining level of public safety” in the Cultural District.
There were four Downtown stabbings last August and complaints by the trust and neighborhood business owners about what they perceived as an increase in homeless people, aggressive panhandling, disorderly youth and a variety of other nuisances.
The city reported in 2019 it had seen its lowest amount of crime since 1998.