Massive crime wave has major U.S. city reeling

Amid the fallout from a recent mass shooting in Pittsburgh that left two teenagers dead and at least 11 people with gunshot wounds, the attention of Pennsylvanians turns to a crime wave that shows no sign of letting up.

Allegheny County’s homicide spike has led to protests among residents. On top of last month’s shooting, with no perpetrator in custody, there have already been at least 38 killings this year. Last year saw 123 homicides, 10 more than in 2020 and roughly 26 more than in 2019. Meanwhile, on the southeast side of the state, Philadelphia recorded its deadliest year ever in 2021, with 562 homicide victims, according to the city’s police department.

First-year Democratic mayor Ed Gainey, who ran on racial equity and reallocating police resources while avoiding the term “defunding,” is nowhere to be seen, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial board, “even when the city most needed to see and hear him.”

Sam DeMarco, an at-large member of the Allegheny County Council and chair of the county’s Republican Committee, told me Gainey has not addressed surging crime. DeMarco claims that while the mayor “says the right things,” he is not taking action to back the police and protect residents. Many Pennsylvanians are demanding law and order.

“I’d be looking for ways to fund more police officers,” DeMarco said in an interview. “I’d be reinstituting an impact squad, which formerly existed in the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police and was very effective at getting guns and drugs off the streets. I’d be working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.” – READ MORE