When Seconds Count, Police Are Only Minutes Away

20 Minutes away. Or more. Target 11 Investigates delayed police response times

Target 11 Investigator Rick Earle spoke with two women who are raising questions about the response time.

“I came back up like this, went like this to the door. I locked it. I grabbed this knife,” said Jordan Seiler.

Holding a butcher knife behind her door, Seiler frantically called 911.

A man follows you into your apartment building. As you are entering your apartment, he is running up the stairs after you. You call 911 and wait 20 minutes.

One, you need more than a butcher knife. Two, you should not expect that the police will save you. Three, she wasn't the only person they interviewed about long response times. In the other incident where they interviewed a victim, it took police more than 90 minutes to respond.

So what was the status of "Defund the Police" in Pittsburgh?

“At the end of the day, the simple answer is there’s not an officer available to respond to that,” said Allegheny county Emergency Services Chief Matt Brown.

Police academy classes were canceled or postponed because of COVID. They even canceled the 2022 class. 401 officers have retired or resigned since 2017. They didn't have data on how many were recruited and trained. That may not sound like a lot when you compare it to the thousands that have quit NYPD, but the Pittsburgh Police Department 838 officers, including 50 on medical leave, military duty, or not working for other reasons. That makes the 401 number look a lot worse. They also don't say what the expected staffing level should be for a city the size of Pittsburgh.