Downtown Pittsburgh remained a hot spot for crime in the city in 2024 based on a report.
Crime statistics from 2024 show Downtown Pittsburgh as a hot spot for crime, according to a recent report. Zone 2 in Pittsburgh covers Downtown to the Hill District to Lawrenceville. It had the highest amount of calls for police service for the third year in a row, according to the report.
Mayor Gainey said, “Downtown is safe. Downtown is not a situation where you have homicides every day, every month; it’s not like that.”
31,008 calls originated in Zone 2. Half of them came from Downtown, with 64% coming from citizens and 36% from officers. 3,705 calls were higher-priority calls and 3,928 were lower-priority. Mayor Gainey said Downtown is “not a hotbed of crime.”
In 2019, Zone 3, which includes the South Side, Mt. Washington, and Allentown, had the highest number of calls. Zone 2 had the fourth-highest amount in 2019. Mayor Gainey cites the opening of the Downtown Public Safety Center over a year ago as playing a role in improving public safety.
The mayor also referenced the roughly 20 police officers that patrol Downtown Pittsburgh daily to increase safety and deter crime.
Commander Tim Novosel, who oversees Zone 2 and the Downtown Public Safety Center, said, “This is one of the most proactive police areas in the City of Pittsburgh.” Zone 2 had 1,934 arrests, which is the highest amount in the city. Over half of those came from the Downtown District.
Drugs and disorderly conduct were the reasons for the majority of the arrests occurring in Downtown Pittsburgh.
While the report indicates that most crime was concentrated in Downtown Pittsburgh, Mayor Gainey maintains the stance that Downtown is safe, and that people have returned to the city. He pointed out that despite the results of the study, Downtown restaurants are packed every weekend, and the Arts and Cultural District receives many visitors each weekend as well.
