Pittsburgh reports 71 homicides in 2022, the highest total in a decade
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — This year, Pittsburgh has seen a record-breaking number of homicides.
On Monday, Pittsburgh police responded to the Family Dollar on Brighton Road for a deadly shooting, which marked 71 homicides in the city with two days left in 2022. It is the highest it's been in a decade.
Eight years ago, according to crime data online, there were 70 homicides within the city. And between 2010 and Thursday, there have been 700.
According to the most up-to-date data from police, 60 percent of offenders involved in homicides this year are between 15 and 24 years old. More than 50 percent of victims are within that same age group.
An increase in violence is something Mayor Ed Gainey has been fighting since taking office with his "Pittsburgh Plan for Peace." Gainey also is consistently pushing the public to provide tips in hopes of breaking this vicious cycle.
KDKA-TV reached out to Gainey's office on Thursday to learn what his plan is to reduce the numbers in 2023. In a statement, he said they're counting on police resources to focus on the city's most violent offenders.
Also, based on the 2023 budget, some new public safety measures include a new downtown ambassador program, doubling community violence intervention teams and distributing $1 million in grants to community organizations to help prevent violence.
As for Pittsburgh police, a spokesperson said the department has been collaborating with other partners in the city to work toward solutions to reduce the violence.
With homicides marking a new all-time high in a decade, police say, "These numbers are something we take very seriously. Police work around the clock to investigate these cases. Every case is a priority."
The full statement from the mayor's office can be found below.
"Pittsburgh, like many cities across the country, has been experiencing a rise in homicides this past year. Making Pittsburgh the safest city in America has been one of the top priorities of our administration and our police have done an excellent job of apprehending those responsible for these acts of violence in our city. We are also hard at work trying to get ahead of violence to create the lasting peace Pittsburgh deserves.
"Earlier this year we shared our public health-based approach to violence – the Pittsburgh Plan for Peace. This model is based on utilizing our police resources to focus on our most violent actors while we focus other resources on addressing the root causes of violence in our city.
"Our budget for next year makes serious investment into non-officer related measures for public safety – some of those include:
- New downtown ambassador program – that is being funded by the City, PDP, and PCCD to provide non-officer support, additional eyes and ears downtown, and to give young people in our city an opportunity for employment in community protection.
- Doubling the size of our Community Violence Intervention teams and distributing $1M in grants to community organizations helping to prevent violence.
- A stronger connection between OCHS and the PBP to ensure that the right people are responding in order to offer interventions and support services to those in crisis.
- Collaboration with PPS on proven and innovative peace-keeping programs to reduce violence in our high schools
"We will also be starting at least 2 new police academy classes and have been working towards a new public safety center downtown – which is slated to open in 2023.
'Finally, we can't do this alone, and we are working together with community groups, faith leaders, and everyone in our city who wants to help end the violence. It is going to take all of us working together."
