Some City Council Members Hope To Implement PIRC Initiative To Reduce Crime
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The violence on Pittsburgh streets is on track to break a record.
On Monday, two people were shot in Glen Hazel. One person was killed and the other is now in critical condition. In a second shooting, earlier in the day, a city worker was killed in Carrick.
"It hit really close to home," said Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto. "Losing somebody who is a city employee while they're on duty, while they're in uniform hits everybody, and I don't think you have to be a city employee to understand that."
So, what's being done to see that cries of anguish stop becoming a daily event?
Some on City Council want to see PIRC, the Pittsburgh Initiative to Reduce Crime, get off the ground. PIRC is a funded but failed effort under the past police administration.
"We didn't implement it in many years. The police refused to use intervention, and I've said that publicly," said City Councilman Ricky Burgess. "So, that's truth, and so now with the new police chief, I look forward to the police now being led in a way that uses best practices and policies to prevent violence."
Pittsburgh Police Chief Cameron McLay met with Councilman Burgess Tuesday to talk about getting the PIRC program up and running. A program, he says he is committed to.
But, in the meantime, the numbers are going up. The makeshift memorials continue and communities want answers.
"Most of the incidents we are seeing are targeted. It's not a random violence that happening. It is violent crime that is occurring," said Mayor Peduto. "We're working with federal partners, state partners, county partners in order to be able to put an all hands on deck approach to it."
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