Q&A
Use the comment box below to add questions to this page pertaining to anything at all related to public safety in your neighborhood. Likewise, if you know the answer to a question, or have any feedback about something on this page, post that as well.
For more ideas, click the “strategies” link in the list to your right.
Q: How do I find out if there has been a crime in my neighborhood in the last week?
A: The Pittsburgh Police Blotter is an online resource available to citizens. By clicking on the previous link, you can view zone by zone reports of arrests and police activity updated daily.
Q: What is CitizenObserver and why should I use it?
A: CitizenObserver allows law enforcement agencies to quickly enter content about crimes or incidents, and within seconds push that information out to businesses, citizens, watch groups, and others that have signed up to receive the alerts. Log on to CitizenObserver and click on the “Sign Up for Alerts” link if you would like to receive CitizenObserver alerts.
Q: How can I learn more about the Bureau of Police, what they do, and how my group can work with them?
A: There are several ways to learn about the Pittsburgh Police. One is joining the Public Safety Committee in your area. Another is to make sure to attend your zone or city-wide public safety meeting, where many of the public safety-related institutions in the city (including the Bureau of Building inspection, Department of Public Safety, various departments within the Police Bureau, and more) meet to share pertinent information.
Finally, for an in-depth educational opportunity, sign up for the Citizen’s Police Academy, a one night per week, 15-week long free course offered to all citizens interested in learning more about who the police are, what they do, and why they do it. Participants need not even be city residents!
Q. How do I contact police officials in my zone?
A: Reference our handy zone contact list. Don’t know what zone you’re in? Check the map.
Q: Graffiti is a big problem in my neighborhood – does anyone know who I should talk to about that?
Yes! you should call the Graffiti Task Force at 412.323.7818 and make sure that someone comes out and takes a picture of it. If you really need to get rid of the Graffiti ASAP (if its hurting your business, eg) then go ahead and remove it – but keep all of your receipts to submit to the police later to get reimbursed!
I am concerned about a house down the street that is loud and has different people coming and going at all hours of the night – what should i do?
Hmm – I think that depends on the situation. If it is a true emergency, don’t hesitate, call 911 immediately. There is also the 311 line which responds to numerous issues in the city non-emergency related.
I once heard Chief Harper say that, “when in doubt, call 911″. The City got something like 900,000 911 calls last year! When you don’t know which one to call, call 911.
Why doesn’t the City of Pittsburgh have police officers “walking the beat”?? I’ve seen police on occasion patroling my neighborhood and that has made me feel a lot safer. However, they usually just drive through a couple times and then leave. I think that having these officers actually walking around the neighborhoods would be a great thing. In addition to people feeling safer, it would help prevent a lot of violent crime and nuisance crime such as graffiti and slashing tires (which has been in the news a lot lately). And on top of that, it would give citizens and police a chance to interact with each other, possibly gaining a better trust and respect for each other. In this era of “No Snitching,” residents may feel more inclined to report things going on in their neighborhoods if they feel as if they can trust the police. Having police walk the beat and get to know residents may help build that trust.