Safety should be last to go in tight times

Violent crime in Pittsburgh is on the rise, with 21 people dead from homicide since August… Violent crime in Pittsburgh is on the rise, with 21 people dead from homicide since August and armed home invasions and shootings becoming increasingly common in Oakland, not to mention Sunday night’s melee at the Original Hot Dog Shop – a fistfight in the street involving nearly fifty people.

With safety clearly at a premium, the city and the University should be doing everything possible – despite budget shortfalls – to make the city safe for residents and students alike.

It would seem that the Murphy administration is bent on doing just the opposite. As part of recent budget cuts, 88 police officers were laid off.

The Fraternal Order of Police offered to forego a 4 percent raise so that city police who’d been laid off could get rehired. Such generosity and clearheaded thinking in the face of the city’s financial crisis is remarkable – regardless of the FOP’s motives, be they self-preservation, safety concerns or, most likely, a combination of the two.

The city’s reaction was also remarkable – remarkably foolish. Along with the offer to forego the raise, the FOP demanded – reasonably enough – that the city set minimal staffing levels for police. The city refused, effectively killing a measure that could help prevent sparse police coverage in the city.

If the city drops the ball, as it clearly has in this instance, Oakland at least should be some sort of haven – the University is a behemoth-like presence and maintains a police force of its own. However, Pitt’s officers are poorly paid and their jurisdiction is not clearly defined, making it very difficult for them to have an effective presence.

Even in the face of rising tuition costs, an extra fee tacked onto tuition to subsidize and help expand the Pitt police force would be an investment most students would likely be willing to make, and if not the students themselves, then their parents or tuition-paying guardians.

Though no arrests were made and no one was seriously hurt, the fact that it took officers from all four city zones as well as from the sheriff’s department and the Port Authority half an hour, according to an O manager, to quell the violence, is a disgrace, and indicates things aren’t working as they should.

The city is in a budget crisis. Everyone understands that that’s the reason for pool closings and the threat to public transportation. Belt-tightening measures are never comfortable, but public safety must always be the highest priority.