Eric Walters has witnessed this before.

The notion that police will step up patrols in the Sheldon Park apartment complex in Harrison isn’t believable to the nine-year resident.

“They’ve been saying that,” Walters said. “If they do, they’ll do it a couple days and say they’re doing something, and then they’ll go away.”

Sheldon Park, run by the Allegheny County Housing Authority, is situated off Springhill Road and Broadview Boulevard, near Heights Plaza.

Housing Authority police told TribLive they would be increasing foot patrols and walking the beat at least three times a week. The new patrol begins Thursday.

“We’re trying to be proactive,” Housing Authority police Chief Mike Vogel said.

His plan is to partner one of his officers with a patrolman from Harrison, whose department is housed within Sheldon Park.

“I think it builds a better relationship with residents, and it helps us get information as to where the problems are,” Vogel said. “It will be a win-win and hopefully, stop crime from happening.”

The news comes after a shooting last week in Sheldon Park that injured one man, although Harrison police Chief Brian Turack said the plan was in the works for some time.

In connection to the shooting, police charged Albert Pittman, 15, of Harrision with attempted homicide, aggravated assault, tampering with physical evidence, firearms not to be carried without a license and illegal possession of a firearm by a minor. The man shot was in critical condition.

Pittman, who is being charged as an adult, is being held in Allegheny County Jail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, June 26 in Pittsburgh Municipal Court.

“Crimewise, we don’t see the statistics (at Sheldon Park) that we see in the city,” Vogel said. “But we take it seriously. One crime is one too many in my book.

“This new beat will get the guys out and get them around people in the community, especially the kids.”

Still, Sheldon Park has become a hotbed of criminal activity that police are trying to thwart.

In October 2022, two brothers from Tarentum were charged with attempted homicide after being accused of shooting at people in a Sheldon Park apartment.

Troy Vickers and Brian Vickers, were charged with aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, conspiracy and firearms violations in what Allegheny County Police described as a gun battle at about 1 a.m. along Park Avenue.

In March 2022, a man who was a resident of Sheldon Park faced multiple charges after neighbors told police he pointed a gun at several people before firing a shot into the air.

Trenton Ezell Simmons, was charged with two felony gun charges along with making terroristic threats, harassment and eight counts of reckless endangerment in connection with the incident.

That same month, a Brackenridge police officer was taken to the hospital after falling backward onto a concrete sidewalk while breaking up a fight at the apartments. Officers were dispatched after residents had called 911 to report a large fight.

Criminal incidents at the complex go back years.

In December 2018, a 29-year-old woman was shot at Sheldon Park but refused to cooperate with authorities.

The woman was shot in her apartment along Park Avenue, across a playground and basketball court from the Lloyd D. Hayden Center.

Residents who recently spoke to TribLive appear split between being skeptical or confident in news from Vogel and Turak that foot patrols will increase.

Walters and another resident, Fred Semprevivo, said they only see Housing Authority police every couple of months.

“I’ve heard them say that,” Semprevivo said. “It goes OK for a little bit, but it slacks off after a while.”

Not all are skeptical, though.

Longtime resident Sydney Hayden said the increased police presence would be good for the community.

Likewise, Elaine Jasso, program coordinator at the Booker Center, is confident more police visibility could make a positive difference. The Booker Center is one of two community centers in Sheldon Park that offer a slate of educational and social programs for residents.

“I think that parents are concerned for the safety of their kids,” Jasso said.

She said officers making the rounds at Sheldon Park and developing positive relationships with residents and children would be a benefit. That way, children aren’t used to just seeing police whenever bad things happen, she said.

“I’m very disappointed that we’re getting this kind of behavior in the community,” she said. “It damages all the good stuff going on. When we’re doing good stuff, we don’t get the publicity.”

Jasso said housing authority police are stretched all over the county, and Sheldon Park “is off the beaten path.” But Harrison police do a good job supplementing patrols, she said.

Vogel said he has implemented crime-fighting technology in the apartment complex in recent years and has forged relationships with residents, the feedback from which is invaluable.

He plans to establish meetings with the apartment management to discuss consequences of police violations.

“Tenants have obligations that they have to adhere to,” he said. “If they have people in their home, they have to be under control. If someone breaks the law, they face eviction and can’t get back in for five years. We don’t want to see people displaced, but there has to be consequences.”

Kellen Stepler is a TribLive staff writer. He can be reached at kstepler@triblive.com. Tawnya Panizzi is a TribLive staff writer. She can be reached at tpanizzi@triblive.com.

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