Police: Tell the city what’s happening and what you’re doing
What’s going on in the hunt for the mass shooter who sprayed bullets into a party at a Deutschtown Airbnb over Easter weekend? Or the investigation into the shooting of Marquis Campbell outside Oliver Citywide Academy on Jan. 19? What about the Brookline shooting, the second recent unsolved murder within a few blocks, from March 29? Or the killings in Homewood and Allentown two nights later? Is there progress in the search for the second suspect in the horrific Memorial Day weekend shooting of toddler De’Avry Thomas?
Nobody knows because the police won’t say — not to the press, not to the people, not to the communities affected by these crimes. The people of Pittsburgh have every reason to believe that their city’s detectives are competent and hard-working. But the silence from the Pittsburgh Police about major crimes that rocked the city and made national headlines is unprecedented and unsettling. And it’s undermining the public’s faith in the department.
Police departments must be discreet, of course, about ongoing investigations. They don’t want to say anything that might compromise their detective work. But the public also has a right to information, and reassurance, about matters of public safety. It’s possible — in fact, it’s necessary — to keep the public informed without giving away anything that would help suspects.
Right now, the department isn’t even notifying the public of arrests in major homicide investigations: They’re burying arrest reports in blotters and waiting for reporters to find them, then offering no further details. The department seems to see the public not as an essential partner in its work but as an afterthought.
Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Lee Schmidt and Police Chief Scott Schubert — or whoever is in charge — should follow the lead of the Allegheny County Health Department’s weekly COVID-19 updates and host regular press briefings about open major cases.
These officials won’t be able to satisfy every curiosity, but they should be willing to answer questions that help the public understand their work and what is happening in Pittsburgh’s communities. What have police learned about what actually transpired in the Deutschtown Airbnb? Was young, meek Marquis Campbell the target of the Oliver Academy shooting? Are the South Pittsburgh shootings connected, and do those neighborhoods have a youth gang problem? Why are shooters getting more brazen, and specifically why was baby De’Avry’s car shot up Downtown? Are there details in any of these cases the public might be able to help piece together?
These are all questions police should be able to give at least some guidance on without compromising the integrity of their investigations. And if any question from the press can’t be answered prudently, the authorities can explain why rather than leaving everyone in the dark about everything. Even in deflecting some questions,they can communicate helpfullyand enhance public confidence.
An uncommunicative police department may not be a big deal during times of relative peace in the city. But now, violence is reaching crisis levels, and the city needs to see and hear its public safety leaders taking charge — and taking a little flak — for the public good.