Some bumps, but overall violent crime continues to fall in Pittsburgh

As violent crime fell slightly last year citywide, both violent crime in Downtown Pittsburgh and hate crimes citywide increased, according to data released Thursday by public safety officials.

The combined number of homicides and non-fatal shootings dropped for the fourth year, to a combined 146 shootings — a drop of 10% from 2018.

The overall drop from 2018 to 2019 relies on the significant decrease in homicides in the city, which fell from 58 in 2018 to 37 in 2019. Non-fatal shootings rose slightly, from 105 in 2018 to 109 last year.

Pittsburgh police released their annual crime analysis this morning. Overall gun violence — the combined homicides and non-fatal shootings — fell last year by about 10%. That drop relies heavily on the significant decrease in homicides from 2018 to 2019 (? via @PghPublicSafety) pic.twitter.com/nleetKW4r8

— Megan Guza (@meganguzaTrib) January 30, 2020

Overall violent crime — homicide, rape, robbery and assault — fell by a little less than 1% last year, but Pittsburgh police Chief Scott Schubert said the numbers from one year to the next don’t tell the entire story.

“It may have looked like it’s stagnant on the non-fatal shootings, but if you really look at it over a period of time, it really has gone down,” he said.

Compared to the previous five-year average, violent crime in 2019 dropped by nearly 19%, the data show. Overall gun violence fell 42% from 2016 to 2019, from 253 incidents to 146.

Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich credited the decrease in part to the expansion of ShotSpotter, the city’s gunshot-detection system. Once covering only a few square miles in and around the Homewood neighborhood, the system went citywide in 2018.

“Police are responding immediately to gunfire and locating victims,” Hissrich said. “By responding faster than ever before, officers are able to render aid to victims who otherwise might die.”

Overall citywide violent crime — homicide, rape, robbery, assault — fell a little less than 1%. It’s down more than 18% from the 5-year average. (? via @PghPublicSafety) pic.twitter.com/dDKbNuRU52

— Megan Guza (@meganguzaTrib) January 30, 2020

Schubert said the numbers are not cause for celebration.

“While these numbers are encouraging, at the end of the day even one homicide is too many, one person being shot is too many,” Schubert said in a statement. “So we’ll keep working. We won’t be happy until the numbers are even lower.”

Ethnic intimidation also rose citywide: 17 incidents in 2018, six of which were violent, according to police, and 22 total incidents in 2019. Of the 2019 incidents, half were violent hate crimes.

Officials also noted an increase in violent crime Downtown — a rise of about 14% over 2018. While violent crime Downtown rose, overall crime fell.

“We understand that this is the economic hub of the region,” Schubert said. “There are a lot of people Downtown during the day and even into the evening now. We’ve got to do our part, but it’s not just our part: It’s the part of all the other services out there that can provide assistance — whether you’re homeless, whether you’re addicted, whether you have mental health issues — for it to be successful, we all have to work as one.”