Mayor Ed Gainey says he's making progress in making Pittsburgh safest city in America
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey delivered his State of the City address on Monday, and he promised no new taxes or cuts in city services.
As KDKA-TV political editor Jon Delano reports, he also said he was delivering on his promise to make Pittsburgh the safest city in America.
Gainey's name was not on the ballot this November, but crime in the city certainly was. Joe Rockey, who was nearly elected county executive, and Steve Zappala, who was reelected district attorney, hammered the issue of public safety, suggesting Pittsburgh is becoming another San Francisco or Philadelphia.
In his State of the City address, Gainey vigorously rejected that perception, reiterating his number one goal.
"One is to make this the safest city in America," he said Monday.
Gainey hailed what he called a remarkable transformation in public safety in Pittsburgh.
"We made our emergency services bureau faster, smarter, more capable, and more accountable. We've expanded our capacity to respond to social, behavior, and mental health emergencies with compassion and care," Gainey said.
Gainey said for the first time in 20 years, the city and fraternal order of police reached a mutual agreement on pay and training. He said the city would double resources to help those affected by violence in the city, with an end goal of zero homicides.
"We must do all that we can to ensure that those who take a life in our city are brought to justice," Gainey said Monday.
The mayor credited the major crimes unit with solving more homicides, which requires members of the community to help identify perpetrators, and he repeated that homicides are down in the city.
"While we are seeing a year-over-year reduction in homicides, one life lost to violence is too many," Gainey said Monday. "This year, major crimes – listen – cleared over 80 percent of homicides committed in our communities. Their work contributes to peace, hope, healing for the people of our city, and I am proud of their accomplishments."
The mayor also said he has moved more police into the streets.
"I promised that we would move more police into the streets and that we would civilianize our police force. And we're doing just that. That's a promise made and a promise kept," Gainey said.
The mayor also thanked the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership and other Downtown leaders for helping to make Downtown welcoming to all. Of course, it's the perception that it's not as safe as it once was that turned the issue into a political one.
Whether the mayor's actions in the year to come will reverse that perception is the unanswered question.
