Pittsburgh residents decry grant funding for city police

Pittsburgh is getting separate grants totaling about $1.6 million for a violence prevention program and as reimbursement for police overtime during two past high-profile events, and at least five residents strongly urged officials to spend it on anything other than the police bureau.

City Council on Tuesday unanimously agreed to accept up to $1.5 million from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency as reimbursement for overtime during the 2018 Tree of Life synagogue shooting and the 2019 trial of a white East Pittsburgh police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black teenager.

Council also unanimously authorized acceptance of a $100,000 grant from the Hillman Foundation to fund the city’s Group Violence Intervention program provided by police and Operation Better Block in Homewood.

Five city residents calling in during a council meeting suggested that the money would be best used for social programs rather than police operations. Several said the city should provide an accounting for how the money will be spent.

“I believe that funding should be significantly diverted from the police department and given to entities that genuinely increase the public welfare, which it is becoming increasingly obvious that the police are not designed to do,” said Elizabeth Labacz of Highland Park.

Council and Mayor Bill Peduto’s office have proposed a series of police reforms that include an increased emphasis on human service experts and social programs that would help ease pressure on police in dealing with calls involving people suffering with homelessness, mental illness and drug addiction.

The police budget — $114.8 million — is about $10.2 million higher than in 2019. It represents about 19% of the city’s total $608 million operating budget.

Dan Gilman, Peduto’s chief of staff, said the state grant would be deposited into the operating budget and used for daily expenses, which include such things as employee wages, workforce development, summer employment opportunities for high school students and neighborhood improvement programs. It also helps to offset an anticipated $127 million deficit in 2020 caused by the coronavirus pandemic, he said.

“Getting reimbursement from the state allows us to have additional funds in 2020 to invest in critical programs that the city wants to invest in,” Gilman said. “The Hillman grant aids our work with GVI to make sure we have people out in our neighborhoods, keeping our more vulnerable communities safe and building relationships to promote safety and economic opportunities for young people.”

Councilwomen Erika Strassburger and Deb Gross said they shared residents’ concerns about police spending. Strassburger said she would vote for the bill to respect families impacted by the Tree of Life murders.

Gross said council could work with the Mayor’s Office on how the grant money should be used.

“I think we should continue to work with the administration,” Gross said. “These funds could be used for the kinds of things that we hear public testimony daily calling for: for increased mental health services, for increased community services, for strengthening communities to defray the need for militarized police.”