How to report a non-emergency crime in the City? (Pittsburgh: home, schools)

[tyovan4]

What is the proper procedure to report a non-emergency crime in the City of Pittsburgh?

I've had a bit of an experience this week.
While driving through Polish Hill, an object was thrown at my car from a school bus. The impact was loud enough that I was worried about my windshield cracking or my hood denting. I also had my drivers door window completely lowered - so I think the thrower was trying to target me (through the open window).. quite concerning, if the drivers of cars in motion are being targeted by thrown objects. There were no pedestrians around to throw anything at me... but there were three buses filled with Pittsburgh Public's finest students who I suspect threw the object at me.

I wasn't sure how to report the crime. I figured the School Police may blow me off - so I wanted to report it to the City Police.

I tried Googling to find the non-emergency # for the Pittsburgh Police. But I couldn't find one. I didn't want to tie up 911 with a non-emergency call. I did find a link on the Public Safety website where I could submit a tip - and receive a tracking number. So I did so on after I got home on Thursday. I checked the tracking number yesterday - and a City employee left a comment saying that I needed to call 911 to file a police report and that the information from the tip website isn't used to generate police reports.

So I called 911 last night and asked to file a report with the Pittsburgh Police for a non-emergency situation. I thought that I would be connected to the Telephone Reporting Unit.
Instead 911 told me that they basically couldn't help me at present - given that I was calling for the Pittsburgh Police, to report a crime in the City, but that I was calling from my home in Etna Borough. They said if I went into City limits - they could dispatch an officer to meet me and take a report. Or I could file a report in person.

So I spent my Saturday morning driving to the Zone 2 station to file a report in person. Which won't be investigated, but at least the cops have a report and they'll have data that this incident occurred.

I vented on my FB, and friends who live in other cities were just flabbergasted at this experience.


So again - for future reference: How do you report a non-emergency crime within the City? Here in Etna, we have 911 for emergencies, but our police also have a non-emergency number that its possible to call.

Thanks!!

[WhoIsStanwix?]

Not sure why you don’t just call PPS? Do you have a bus number, time, and location? Schools have cameras on busses (I think), so someone should be able to review the video.

[SteelCityRising]

I work for the Telephone Reporting Unit (TRU) with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police. We're the ones who handle non-emergency police reports.

You DO need to call 911 to file a non-emergency police report with us. You can't just dial our desk line because you'll be jumping the line of others we have to call back, and without a 911 call sent to us we would have no police report number (CCR#) to provide to you anyways as those are only generated through a 911 call. You would call, say it's a non-emergency, indicate that it happened in the city, and you'd be directed to our unit, which is staffed Monday-Friday starting at 7 AM and usually closing around 9 PM or 10 PM. We have only 1-2 people on per shift, so on a busy day it may take 1-2 hours to get a call back for a report.

Also, 911 was correct for just last night specifically. There was no TRU shift working last night due to the evening worker being off for vacation (this is what happens when your mayor chronically underfunds, understaffs, and underpays the police and police support staff).

Our unit should be utilized MUCH more than it is. As it stands now so many people will refuse to talk to us and will demand an officer respond in person for minor things. It makes NO difference whether a clerk takes a theft from vehicle, hit-and-run, or harassment report over the phone or if an officer takes it in person. It will still just get typed up and referred to the zone's plain clothes detectives for eventual follow-up. I get the sense a lot of people in this city think that if an officer comes out to take a report that they'll immediately spend hours following up. It doesn't work that way at all, and people need to stop thinking that. They don't even fingerprint for vehicle break-ins anymore because they happen all the time. You go into a queue, just like everyone else. Want a shorter wait time? Ask for the mayor to raise your taxes so you can fund more officers and support staff.

Also, for your case specifically since it was PPS students on a PPS bus that were involved, the PPS Police should be the ones who take the initial report.

[tyovan4]

Originally Posted by WhoIsStanwix?

Not sure why you don’t just call PPS? Do you have a bus number, time, and location? Schools have cameras on busses (I think), so someone should be able to review the video.

I have a location and time. No bus number. And yes, even 20 years ago when I was riding buses in rural Lancaster County - our buses had cameras. So I fully expect the buses here today to have them.
In all honesty, my first instinct was to call Pittsburgh School Police. However, a quick Google search didn't turn up a website for them and I wasn't in the mood to dig deeply. And I also thought that my complaint would get brushed aside by the School Police - I thought the City Police's involvement may add an additional level of seriousness.

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

I work for the Telephone Reporting Unit (TRU) with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police. We're the ones who handle non-emergency police reports.

You DO need to call 911 to file a non-emergency police report with us. You can't just dial our desk line because you'll be jumping the line of others we have to call back, and without a 911 call sent to us we would have no police report number (CCR#) to provide to you anyways as those are only generated through a 911 call. You would call, say it's a non-emergency, indicate that it happened in the city, and you'd be directed to our unit, which is staffed Monday-Friday starting at 7 AM and usually closing around 9 PM or 10 PM. We have only 1-2 people on per shift, so on a busy day it may take 1-2 hours to get a call back for a report.

Also, 911 was correct for just last night specifically. There was no TRU shift working last night due to the evening worker being off for vacation (this is what happens when your mayor chronically underfunds, understaffs, and underpays the police and police support staff).

Our unit should be utilized MUCH more than it is. As it stands now so many people will refuse to talk to us and will demand an officer respond in person for minor things. It makes NO difference whether a clerk takes a theft from vehicle, hit-and-run, or harassment report over the phone or if an officer takes it in person. It will still just get typed up and referred to the zone's plain clothes detectives for eventual follow-up. I get the sense a lot of people in this city think that if an officer comes out to take a report that they'll immediately spend hours following up. It doesn't work that way at all, and people need to stop thinking that. They don't even fingerprint for vehicle break-ins anymore because they happen all the time. You go into a queue, just like everyone else. Want a shorter wait time? Ask for the mayor to raise your taxes so you can fund more officers and support staff.

Also, for your case specifically since it was PPS students on a PPS bus that were involved, the PPS Police should be the ones who take the initial report.

Thanks for your response - I appreciate you chiming in with your subject-matter expertise. I would have preferred talking to your unit instead of taking up officer time (and in this case my own time, given that I had to drive to Zone 2's station to file the report).

To me its an absolute joke to hear that vehicle break-ins aren't even finger-printed anymore.. what a complete joke.

Also a joke that on a Friday night - which I would imagine is one of the busiest nights for demand for officers - that your unit was simply non-operational because ya'll seem to be so short-staffed that there's no coverage for when one person goes on vacation..


Not a slight against you, or your coworkers at all, but its this kind of quality of life crap that makes me prefer suburban life over city life. I pay 1/3 of the taxes that a city resident would, and my municipal government is infinitely more responsive and effective...