Pittsburgh's New Anti-Crime Program Mirrors 'Boston Miracle'

Mayor, Council Release Plans To Reduce Youth Violence

POSTED: 11:36 am EDT September 19, 2008
UPDATED: 5:57 pm EDT October 2, 2008

PITTSBURGH -- City Council gave preliminary approval Thursday to a new anti-violence program that has had success cutting gang and youth violence in other areas of the country.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Councilman Ricky Burgess first announced plans last week for the Pittsburgh Initiative to Reduce Crime (PIRC), modeled after a similar program that hit the streets in Boston, where it was called the Boston Miracle.

"They were able to reduce gun violence by 70 percent. That's a startling number and a wonderful number, and a two-third reduction in homicide rates in the city of Boston," Ravenstahl said at a news conference last week.

Street gangs and drug dealers are the target of the program, which relies heavily on a coordinated team of law enforcement, community members and social services.

"In all of the places it has been tried, it has reduced homicides within 30 to 70 percent in the targeted populations," said Burgess, who cited statistics from Boston, Chicago and Cincinnati.

WTAE Channel 4 Action News reporter Sheldon Ingram asked some undercover Pittsburgh police officers to get their take. They interface with gang members and drug dealers daily.

"Going up into these gang neighborhoods, talking to these guys, what is that like?" Ingram asked.

"It's an eerie feeling, man. We never know day to day," said one officer, whose name is being withheld.

"Anything new that hasn't been tried here in Pittsburgh needs to take place," another officer said.

The Boston Miracle relies on a deep and efficiently run police network on many levels. In this region, the Pittsburgh-ized version will lean heavily on human services to address youth at risk.

"The social services component has a lot to do with this -- drug and alcohol, housing, all those things that guys coming home and guys who've been involved with those things need," said Richard Garland, director of the One Vision One Life community group.

The anti-crime program requires a minimum budget of $200,000 that will come from the city's public safety budget.

Part of that money will cover Dr. David Kennedy's salary, who founded the program in Boston during the 1990s. He said the project's success is built on a single message.

"If they know for sure that there will be legal consequences when they shoot somebody, they won't do it," Kennedy said.

Intervention is also a key component.

"If they hear from people they respect that what they're doing is not acceptable, that the community won't stand it anymore, they will put their guns down," Kennedy said.

The program was originally announced one day after Ingram hosted a town hall meeting at the Community College of Allegheny County's Allegheny campus to address a spike in violent crime deaths in the African-American community.

In the city of Pittsburgh in 2008, 54 people have been slain. Of the 54, 44 have been African-American, police officials said.

Burgess said his own bitter experiences were a driving force behind the idea of PIRC.

"I'm deeply concerned about the victims of this senseless violence. For some victims, I've sat by their bedsides, I've consoled their families and I've presided over their funerals," he said.

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