by Rob Taylor Jr., Courier Staff Writer
While there was a noted decrease from 2018 to 2019 in the number of overall homicides in Allegheny County (110 to 95) and the City of Pittsburgh (52 to 37), no one’s doing backflips.
The percentage of African Americans who were killed in Allegheny County actually rose from 2018 to 2019 (66 percent to 82 percent), according to statistics provided by Allegheny County’s public information office.
In 2018, 73 African Americans were killed in the county out of 110 overall homicides—in 2019, five additional African Americans were killed (78), even though the overall number of homicides in the county dropped by 15.
“We cannot be happy that the number of Black deaths has increased,” Tim Stevens, president and CEO of the Black Political Empowerment Project, told the New Pittsburgh Courier in an exclusive interview, Jan. 9. Stevens called the percentage of Black deaths rising as something that “cannot be acceptable. We have to be concerned about the county as a whole, and many of our city residents go between different communities. We are happy that the numbers of deaths in Pittsburgh have gone down, but we cannot be happy about the total number of Black deaths going up.”
The City of Pittsburgh has more resources, financially and from a sheer number of officers, to combat crime. Stevens said he commended the work of Pittsburgh Police and the many anti-violence organizations, including the Greater Pittsburgh Coalition Against Violence, of which Stevens plays a vital role, that are working to fight criminal activity.
“There has been a concentrated effort in the city to deal with homicides and deal with violence, and I think some of that is beginning to take root,” Stevens said.
The city’s Group Violence Intervention, an 11-person group that helps to quell gang violence in the city, is also to be lauded, Stevens said. GVI, which is led by Cornell Jones, in late 2018 was awarded a financial boost from $150,000 to $500,000 per year to expand its anti-violence efforts.
If the number of homicides inside city limits are trending down, why aren’t the county homicide numbers doing likewise? Fifty-eight homicides were recorded outside of Pittsburgh but inside Allegheny County in 2018 and 2019. Wilkinsburg recorded 11 homicides in 2019; McKeesport had seven; Penn Hills had five.
Stevens believes the initial issue is that the smaller police departments in some jurisdictions just don’t have the resources and training.
“After the Antwon Rose II death occurred, even (Allegheny County) District Attorney Stephen Zappala, at his news conference, said it was apparent that the East Pittsburgh Police Department had little or no training,” Stevens told the Courier. “They (smaller police departments) have much less resources in terms of financing or paying their police officers, and you often end up with officers who may be less professional, and some, their pay per hour is not even at the $15 per hour that we’re advocating for minimum wage in general.”
Stevens added: “With very less than professional income, sometimes you get what you pay for.”
Stevens believes a consolidation of some police departments should be one strategy—“maybe they can combine resources, pay the officers at a more professional level, give them better training,” he said.
Stevens was able to concoct a “You and the Police” brochure, which outlines proper procedures that both individuals and police officers should follow if a person is stopped by the police for whatever reason. That brochure has been seen as favorable by many police departments within Allegheny County, and many departments required that their officers become familiar with the brochure.
Stevens said the brochure has calmed some of the negative interaction between individuals and police officers, but overall, the homicides of African Americans—oftentimes by other African Americans—still must be addressed.
“None of the work that any of us have done is having the powerful impact that we would like to see, but the work must continue,” Stevens said. “We cannot be discouraged…we cannot in any way cease and desist, we must continue and persist.”
TIM STEVENS, president and CEO of the Black Political Empowerment Project, applauds the city for its efforts to reduce crime but is duly concerned about the percentage of Black homicides increasing in Allegheny County.
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