PITTSBURGH (Newsradio 1020 KDKA) – For the fourth year in a row the number of homicides in the city of Pittsburgh has fallen.
Fifty-five people were killed in 2018 in the city. That's down from 58 the year before. There were 71 murders in 2014.
Numbers released by Public Safety officials show the clearance rate for those murders, that is the percent police believe they've solved, rose to 71 percent. The number of non-fatal shootings stood at 114, that's a 19 percent reduction.
The number of calls for shots fired fell 14 percent to 1,858.
Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich says several factors are responsible for the decline. He says police staffing is up, anti-crime technology is improved, and the department has focused on community policing and community outreach.
"To ensure the community it is safe to talk to police and to provide information. Without the community the number would be drastically higher," said Hissrich.
Police Chief Scott Schubert also cites community relations. "To us it's not a program, it's who we are, and that's getting out into the community, getting to know the community and being a partner with the community," said Schubert.
Officials also point to the city's Group Violence Intervention Program run by organizer, Pastor Cornell Jones. The program uses more than 30 volunteers and members of the Family Life non-profit organization to talk to young people involved with violence and show them ways to get out.
"We've gone to houses of possible shooters, hospitals, schools, even jails to send a message the violence has to stop," says Jones.
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