PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey is responding to 11 Investigates reporting that uncovered the city is closing just over half of its homicide cases.
Pittsburgh police solved 54.8% of its homicide cases in 2024. That is three points below the national average.
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“Well, 54 is a pretty high number, now. Let’s give them credit where credit’s due, and I think that we will improve,” Mayor Ed Gainey said in a one-on-one interview with Investigative Reporter Jatara McGee.
11 Investigates previously uncovered several departments in nearby cities outpacing Pittsburgh police’s clearance rate, including Philadelphia police with a 71% rate. The list includes Columbus, Cincinnati, Washington D.C., Chicago and Detroit.
“We’ve had to do a lot of revamping with our Pittsburgh Bureau of Police. I’m extremely proud of them because the numbers that they have. They’ve done a phenomenal job, and we will continue to grow that and continue to solve those cases,” Gainey said.
“The current clearance rate is actually lower than the national average. It’s lower than cities like DC, Philly, Detroit, Chicago,” McGee said.
“From last year or previous years?” Gainey asked.
“From last year. From 2024,” McGee responded. “Are you concerned by that -- that we’re lagging some of these cities?”
“We can talk about lagging, but I think that when you look at the fact that we have done better last year than we’ve done in some of the years, it shows that we are getting there. Is it gonna happen immediately? You and I know that doesn’t happen, but it does happen in time as long as we continue to progress,” Gainey said. “We’ve continued to draw everything down.
“We’ve hired police, we’ve had our third class of recruiting officers, we will continue to do that… This is what we inherited.”
11 Investigates fact checked the mayor’s claims about the solve rate compared to previous years. 2024′s 55% is a better solve rate than where the city’s police department sat just five years ago. In 2020, Pittsburgh police closed just 43% of its homicides. 55% in 2024 is also a 10% drop from the city’s 2023 clearance rate of 65%.
11 Investigates wanted to know how Corey O’Connor, the man running to unseat Gainey in the May primary, would address this issue. His campaign did not respond to multiple requests for an interview.
On the Republican side the latest candidate to enter the race, Thomas West, also did not respond to interview requests.
Facing off against West in the primary, Tony Moreno agreed to answer our questions.
“The really solid detectives are the ones that are carrying the water for the whole office,” Moreno said.
He is a former Pittsburgh police officer and did not mince words.
“They’re embarrassed. It’s embarrassing what’s going on in our city and our law enforcement,” Moreno said. “Why aren’t they getting more cooperation from the community to solve them? And I believe it’s a lack of ability in the investigative ranks. It’s how these investigators come up. They don’t have the skills built in them yet to investigate homicides. It’s not easy coming in and trying to get answers from somebody that generally distrusts you to begin with.”
Moreno said if he were mayor, he would have detectives evaluated specifically for their ability and effectiveness in closing cases.
“I know it’s hard for officers to hear that and they’re gonna be not happy with me, but the police officers that know it, they know this to be true,” he said.
Moreno believes the department needs to focus on developing up and coming officers who could be great investigators if they get the advanced training. He also believes the department needs to be aggressive in recruiting and going after officers who have moved on to other local departments.
Gainey agreed the unit needs a boost.
“Are you committed to getting more detectives in that unit?” McGee asked.
“We went two years without hiring a police officer. So we were behind from the beginning, but we absolutely are,” he responded.
“When can we see that change?” McGee asked.
“We will see that change as our numbers continue to increase,” Gainey said.
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