Pittsburgh leaders are calling attention to a recent spike in gun violence in the City.
At a press briefing Monday afternoon, Assistant Director of Public Safety Shatara Murphy said the City will be putting more resources into reducing gun violence.
She said Public Safety Director, Wendell Hissrich directed the department to approach the issue from multiple fronts to identify, address and reduce the violence that is rising in the city.
"This will include proactively patrolling the neighborhoods hit hardest by violence; engaging with businesses and community members in a positive way; getting out there and getting to know our neighbors, building a strong rapport, letting individuals know that we are all in this together," said Murphy.
Murphy also said more officers will be riding together and strategically placed in communities to patrol and engagement with the communities.
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Mayor Bill Peduto says that's just the start. He's calling on businesses, non-profits, hospitals, labor organizations and more to step up. "That whether you work at the top of a tower in Downtown Pittsburgh or you're working to build bridges, or you're working in institutions that are non-profit, you're all a part of the City. That you're a part of the pain and the gain and that you have a role to play.
"As the mayor of the City of Pittsburgh, I'm calling on our corporate leaders to understand that if you want to that if you want to take a gun out of a young kid's hands, give him a job in the summer. Give him the opportunity to see what it's like to work in a bank or a hospital. Invest back into the neighborhoods," he said.
"We are not going to solve this by just putting more police officers on the streets. This is solved by giving people opportunity; opportunity that they do not have right now."
"Putting more police on the street is part of it, but it's a band-aid. What is needed is opportunity and opportunity can't be given just by city government, it has to be a team effort.
"It's up to our non-profits, our hospitals, our universities, the engines of our new economy to understand that they have a role to play and their role is in supporting the organizations that help to build a better city and that their campus is not a little footprint, but it's every part of this city.
"It's up to our labor organizations pre-apprentice opportunities," said Peduto.
"And we need a community," he continued. "We need a community that stands together and understands that the solutions, and not just the problems, are in the very blocks where we're seeing this terrible crisis happening."
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Pittsburgh Public Safety data shows killings are up 80% and gun violence is up 90% over last year during the same period.
In a released statement earlier on Monday, Police Chief Scott Schubert said in a release "Although this uptick in violence appears to be a trend across the country, this is not our city. This is not Pittsburgh."
Peduto echoed these sentiments during the afternoon press conference saying "It's easy to look around the country and say that violence is simply growing. That gun violence is becoming acceptable. That we're allowing hatred to fill our hearts. But, we can't accept it in Pittsburgh. It is not acceptable. The only way to drive out hatred," he continued, "is with love."