Police increasing weekend patrols on South Side
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Residents and business owners on the South Side say it's a long time coming, but they're finally getting the extra police patrols on the weekends they've been wanting.
The dedicated units will patrol the neighborhood on weekends in an effort to crack down on the recent violence.
The patrols started Thursday night and will continue through Sunday every weekend at least until the end of the summer.
While these extra patrols are a welcomed sight, many who live and work on the South Side think it should be done throughout the entire year.
"It's been violence, shootings and chaos for the last 3 1/2 years," said Rich Cupka, the owner of Cupka's Cafe on the South Side.
He says in all of his years on Carson Street he hasn't seen violence and crime quite like now or businesses leaving the neighborhood. A decade ago, East Carson only had 5% vacancies. He says today it's well over 20%.
"The violence is ruining everything," Cupka said.
Most recently, a man was shot and killed along East Carson last week.
To combat the recent violence, Pittsburgh police have deployed a dedicated unit to patrol the area Thursdays to Sundays from 6 p.m. to 4 a.m., at least for the next four to six weeks.
"The presence is going to discourage some of the rowdiness, the things that are happening at night," said Ryan Goodfriend, who lives on the South Side.
But many who live and work here say you can't fix the problem in six weeks.
"I do think it needs to be more consistent, especially during the school year where there are a lot of kids here from all the universities like Carnegie Mellon and Pitt," Goodfriend said.
Pittsburgh police say crime is down on the South Side, according to statistics that indicate arrests have decreased over the years.
Business owners disagree, including Cupka. He says the violence is still happening but nothing is being done.
"The city is not letting the police be proactive in their policing cause of manpower, staffing and so on. It hurts everything," Cupka said.
