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Pittsburgh City Council

Money for new detective dedicated to investigating car thefts accepted.

Written by Amy Whipple

  • Councilmember Kail-Smith expressed frustration that a previous, similar grant to hire dedicated officers to auto theft went unused and wanted assurance that this money would be
  • The previous officer dedicated to the task retired in January. The Bureau has since placed two part-time officers in the unit.
  • According to a KDKA report, Brookline, Carrick, Knoxville, Beltzhoover and Sheraden experience the highest number of car thefts
  • Councilmember Gross wanted to know if the money would provide the necessary support to deal with an abundance of abandoned vehicles
  • Acting Chief Devine said there is a plan in the “very near future” to have a “vehicle blitz” that would clean up as many abandoned vehicles as possible. They will prioritize streets that need more immediate removal for safe passage.
  • The Police Bureau will release another PSA about frequently stolen vehicles and have talked about doing another round of providing clubs to residents as needed
  • Acting Chief Devine said most vehicles are stolen by juveniles for joyriding and that scrapyard surveillance/chop shop tracking aren’t needed
  • These funds are from the Pennsylvania Auto Theft Prevention Agency and will pay for the salary of one detective, overtime, equipment, and vehicles.

Connections to this story

Topics:
Public Safety & EMS
Governments:
Pittsburgh City Council
Public meetings:
City Council · May 19, 2025
Sources:
Resolution 2025-1821 — authorizing the Mayor, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and the Director of the Department of…

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