Pittsburgh announces new program to help keep people out of criminal justice system

A pilot program announced by Pittsburgh officials could be another step toward enacting the law enforcement reforms that community activists have asked for in regular protests in the region that followed the May 25 killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis.

Details about the program and how it will work weren’t released in the city’s announcement Monday.

The goal is to start the program in the city’s North Side neighborhood and expand it throughout the city. The North Side was chosen because it already has a youth diversion program, officials said.

The program will build on the new Office of Community Health and Safety that Mayor Bill Peduto announced he was forming last month.

It will be a “public health-focused, pre-arrest diversion program,” according to a news release. The idea will be to provide treatment instead of punishment to people with substance abuse and other behavioral health issues.

The specific types of low-level crimes weren’t detailed. The city will use $186,500 from the Allegheny County Health Department’s Overdose Data to Action grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to pay for the program.

Pittsburgh City Council was expected to introduce legislation supporting the program on Tuesday.

Tim McNulty, a spokesman for Peduto, said City Council will provide more details about the program in its meetings this week.

The program would keep people out of the criminal justice system, and refer those who have regular contact with police to social service agencies instead.

“We know that cycling people through the criminal justice system does not improve outcomes,” Peduto said in a statement.