Good morning and welcome to W T *** E listens, I'm Sheldon Ingram. Today we're talking about the state of downtown Pittsburgh. Bouncing back from the pandemic has proven to be *** challenge. And now the city must address those issues driving some people away. When it comes to downtown, the city of Bridges is at *** crossroads. I might feel kind of scared walking the streets lately, especially at night this year, *** deadly shooting in broad daylight. They just killed them like trash like they didn't care. They, they didn't care about anything that was going on *** bullet through *** college student's window. And I'm looking at *** lamp right by my window and I see the bullet hole right behind it and what police call *** racially motivated stabbing this violence along with drug use and *** surging homeless population leading to mounting concerns about safety. Our employees don't want to come downtown and our clients won't meet us downtown this morning. We hear from two business owners demanding action. Plus we know that there are some things that we're working through and some things that have fundamentally shifted as *** result of the pandemic. How the head of Pittsburgh's downtown partnership plans to bring life back to the heart of the city. We as law enforcement are prepared to make downtown the greatest city in America and what Pittsburgh police are doing to protect you. Recent issues downtown have two business owners packing up and moving out. We sat down with them to hear why they're leaving and what needs to change. Good morning again. And thanks for joining us with W T *** E listens as we discuss the state of downtown Pittsburgh. It's been talked about *** lot, *** lot of concerns amongst these two gentlemen who are joining me, Chris Haner, Doctor Chris of uh dental and Bob, the owner of financial advisors. Right. Thank you both for joining us. Let's start with you. You are the longest, the longest tenure downtown, uh with your financial advisory business, your firm. How long have you been downtown? I've worked downtown for 54 years and I started my individual practice 51 years ago and built our group and uh we've been in our current location at Six and Smithfield uh for the last 17 years. How about you, Chris? Uh I've been down since 2004, so 19 years, same spot um every day. And you're located on 7th 7th Avenue and Smithfield Street and you're located on Sixth and Smithfield. So the reason why you two gentlemen are here on the show is because you represent *** migration of businesses that are actually leaving downtown Chris. This, uh, you're leaving this year, you're shutting down your dental practice in the downtown area this year. Correct. I'm shutting down, um, as soon as possible, I'm building out another office. Um, it's gonna take *** couple of months to build out, but I already signed the lease. This started back in September whenever, um, there was *** couple of shootings during the day and I just didn't want my patients to have to deal with that kind of element coming to see me. What about you, Bob? The last time I spoke with you, you were contemplating seriously contemplating *** departure from downtown, which is Saddest. Now we are, we are departing. Uh, we have, uh, we've moved most of our people to our, we have five offices and we've moved most of our people to the suburban offices. The last six will be out by probably the end of June. We need to construct some more floor square footage but our people, our employees don't want to come downtown and our clients won't meet us downtown. What did they tell you what, what is their concern? Fearful? It, it's, the issue is *** twofold issue. There's homelessness, but within the homelessness, there is significant drug usage. You've documented it. Other news media have not documented it. But within that there are the people who are catering to that addiction and they're the criminal element and they're all mixed together and they've taken over that area of town, but it isn't just centralized in our area. We might be the epicenter throughout downtown, but also the North Shore and people are concerned, give us an idea of what it's like for you and your staff to walk into your office on *** normal day parking in the garage at the corner across the street, we walk across the street and we have the folks who have come out of the shelter and by the way that shelter has been there for years and we've coexisted. Well, I brought clothes to the guys and gals there. We bring excess food when we have catered lunches or breakfast to them. But it's only been the past year that has come to this kind of *** problem with the drug use and the criminal element. Is there anything happening on that street on Smithfield Street that impedes your way into your building or compromises your own safety? First of all, the, the sidewalks are clogged. People come out of the church and they're where they're housed overnight and then they begin to go into the library. No one goes to the library except the folks who come out of the church and populate it. There's drug use, there's drug selling, there's public urination, there's public defecation and then there's people who look vulnerable, being accosted and also fights and knifings. How about you, Chris? So, just an example. Um, probably like three weeks ago, I came in about 7 45 in the morning. There was ***, uh, woman on the sidewalk. I picked up my phone started to call 911. Another businessman said I already called, um, just made sure that the Ems and first responders got there, they brought her back and then, um, I went in, worked all day. I hardly leave the office during the day at all. I worked late that night. I left at nine PM, walking to the um garage, same area saw another overdose. So my whole day was book end with overdoses one in the morning and one when I left at night, what are your employees telling you? My employees are pretty resilient. Um And they've seen it kind of progress over time, but they don't want to work down there. They don't feel safe there. They don't go outside if they don't have to. Um they really have their routes plotted to where they park, depending on if they leave when it's dark or if they leave early. Um They're happy we're moving. So the mayor's office and the police, they're familiar with you guys. What have you uh conveyed to them in terms of your concerns or what you want to see done? And have you been giving any measure of confidence that this situation could be corrected? So I, I have not been contacted by the mayor's office at all. Um But I have had open contact with assistant chief Chris Raglan. He has been very receptive and responsive. Um I have seen in the last couple weeks an uptick in police presence and also arrests which I've never seen before. Citations are being handed out. And I think they have arrested *** couple of dealers that have been populating the area and been causing the problem. How about you, Bob? Well, I started *** dialogue with the mayor's office, not the mayor himself but personnel in the office in January early January when the young man was killed adjacent to the tea station, *** long block from us and we went back and forth on it. I expressed my concerns. There wasn't really any satisfaction given to my explanation and my request for assistance and for cleaning up the area. The in my opinion, Sheldon, what's absent is *** comprehensive plan. There have been *** few band aids if you will attempted, but there is no action. For example, much touted *** combination of effective policing, humane policing, but effective policing and social service. The personnel from social service that's non existence. It's non existent. It's been talked about for *** year. They don't exist, they're not there still ahead. If you want *** safe and vibrant downtown, it's on us collectively to invest in this neighborhood, targeting different issues with specific tactics. The programs in place to make downtown Pittsburgh the place to be. Welcome back to W E. Plans are already in motion to make downtown safer and cleaner the city teaming up with downtown stakeholders to make it happen. That includes the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership. And thanks for staying with us for W T *** E is as we continue our discussion on the state of downtown Pittsburgh. And joining me now is Jeremy Waldrop, who is the president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership. Jeremy. Thanks for being with us. Um So let's get right to it in your estimation. What is the state of downtown Pittsburgh right now? Sure. Thanks Sheldon. Thanks for coming in today. So downtowns were built for density, right? We are thriving when there's people in our center cities and and downtown Pittsburgh has struggled with the pandemic. We went from 140,000 people in our downtown district uh to just couple 20 25,000 folks kind of at the height of the pandemic. Um We are recovering, we are back to about 65% of our daily foot traffic of, of workers and visitors coming into downtown Pittsburgh and that is breathing new lives on uh into our streets and our public spaces. And so we're excited about uh the future of downtown Pittsburgh. We know that there's some things that we're working through and some things that have fundamentally shifted as *** result of the pandemic. Um But I think the future is very bright for, for downtown Pittsburgh, speak specifically about the crime people are seeing down here. Um It's *** lot of it, shootings, stabbings. What are you telling residents? First of all, I'm assuming that people who are living in some of these expensive apartments downtown, some of the businesses are sending you emails calling, concerned about what's happening. What are you saying to these residents and businesses? Sure. Yeah, I'm, I'm down here every day. Um, you know, there's certainly challenges with that. We have seen our Unho population grow significantly in downtown Pittsburgh. We now have two shelters, emergency shelters providing services in the downtown core, which has increased the number of folks that are experiencing homelessness. We've seen an increase in substance abuse issues in downtown Pittsburgh and those are things that we have to work on public safety concerns are real and they, you know, they continue to be *** challenge but, but we've seen an increase in police officers in downtown Pittsburgh. Um *** lot of the issues that we have are around known suspects. So these are folks who are often looking for drugs. Um And, and so those issues and challenges are amongst folks uh not against the general public. And so, you know, that's, that's still *** concern for folks that are living and working down here. Um That's something that we hope to address. Um But I think we really have to look at the, the root of the problem which is substance abuse. Ok. So two things, how are you addressing it? So you have AAA *** *** physicians group. Pittsburgh allergy physicians or whatever they call, they're leaving downtown. You have *** dental practice leaving downtown. They've already completed their migration from this area. So how do you stop that bleeding of businesses leaving here? What are you telling these folks? Right. Well, I think there's *** number of fronts. I think we've seen an increase in police services in downtown. That's, that's notable. The mayor committed to that last month and that's certainly on our streets. Uh Our organization is investing in ***, in *** group of individuals called the Golden Triangle Ambassadors that are just friendly faces on the street. Uh They're coordinating with outreach services. They're talking to police officers and, and, and radioing in and the issues that they're seeing and they're also just *** welcoming face to those that are passing through. Um And I think we also have to continue to do more to support individuals in need. Um I think we have to decrease the size of our shelter facilities in downtown. I think we need more shelter services dispersed throughout the county. And I know that that's ***, *** priority of ours and something that we're advocating *** lot for that would be my next question because there are *** lot of people coming into the downtown area for their services. And so the strategy is to spread those places out. Yeah, when you talk to individuals who are in our shelter system, many of them come down here because the service is here, but they'd much rather be in their community. They'd like to be connected to the, to the friends and family that they have, they just don't have shelter. And so we're providing that here. Um I think our shelter system is in need of more investment. I think we need smaller facilities. Uh We have *** shelter on Smithfield Street that's seeing 140 160 folks *** night. That's *** lot of folks coming out onto our streets at seven AM in the morning and really with no place to go until seven PM. So we'd like the county uh to, to rethink the emergency shelter system. It's, it's *** problem that that is, I think *** direct result of the pandemic. And so we're still working with them to figure out kind of the best solutions. But I think it's something that, that we, we should see progress on the next month or so. You mentioned the ambassador program. What is that? How does it work? Yes. So we've hired *** team of really kind of personality plus individuals, these folks, one of their primary charges to get out there and just welcome individuals into downtown. So last weekend, we had hundreds of basketball teams come into the Golden Triangle as part of *** tournament. Um We want those ambassadors kind of surrounding those folks as they're coming in, out of their hotels. Hey, how's it going? You looking for some some breakfast. You looking for *** late night snack, like where can you find these opportunities? Um How do we just provide more of *** presence on the street, as I mentioned earlier, we're still only about 65% of the folks on our streets in downtown Pittsburgh on any given day. So we want individuals in places where, you know, maybe they're loading in for *** theater. It's uh performance at seven PM. Where are those folks parking? How do we make sure that those folks feel welcome and engaged? Because *** lot of times it's not that folks are unsafe, but when there's no one else around them or when there's an individual who, who uh may have *** mental issue around them, they're uh they're uncomfortable. And so how do we kind of decrease their comfort level? Kind of what are the things that as an organization we can bring to the table? And this is something that we've seen work in other cities and something that we're replicating here in downtown. These ambassadors. Um Are they trained to have the, the eyes and ears for anything going astray? Uh anything going wrong as well? Yeah, they've had about 40 hours of training before they hit the streets. Uh de escalation Services Administration of Narcan uh tours of some of beau of our beautiful office buildings. Uh uh the, the David L Lawrence Convention Center, the to the cultural district. These folks are kind of brand ambassadors for downtown Pittsburgh. Uh they are connected with the police. They have *** radio that radios into dispatch. If there's any issue that they need to communicate out, be it to an outreach worker uh to *** Pittsburgh police officer, those things can happen instantaneously. How many of these individuals are part of the ambassador group? And how many are working downtown at any given time? Yes. So it's *** relatively small group. We have about 11 folks in the program now. So any given shift, you're seeing kind of four or five individuals, but they're very strategic in their locations. If there's something happening at P P G arena happening at P N C Park, we're going to put those folks uh where people might be. They're, you're always gonna find them in Market Square particularly as uh as the weather is changing more consistently. Um You're gonna see those folks out and about on the streets there from seven AM to 11 PM. And so we're encouraging folks to get back back down here. If you want *** safe and vibrant downtown, it's on us collectively to invest in this neighborhood to be *** part of it, to work towards solutions coming up. When W T *** E listens, what we need to do is is we also need to think um different ways of addressing the problem thinking outside the badge, how Pittsburgh Police are finding new ways to patrol downtown. Welcome back to the W E listens, the city is ramping up policing downtown to address safety concerns. We sat down with Pittsburgh police leadership to learn about their strategy and thanks for staying with us for W T *** E listens right now, we are joined by assistant acting assistant chief of the Pittsburgh Police Department or the Pittsburgh Bureau of Public Safety, Chris Raglan. Thank you so much for joining us this morning. Yeah, absolutely. Um So, you know, this discussion is all about the, the status of downtown or the, the crisis that we're experiencing downtown. Tell us how law enforcement looks at this situation. Well, thank you for having me. And it's *** topic that I'm very passionate about *** downtown resident and I recognize how downtown is important to the region. And so from *** law enforcement standpoint, we're seeing *** lot of different things. What you see is *** confluence of homelessness, mental health and drug addiction as well as some other crimes. And so from *** law enforcement standpoint, we have *** couple of tools in our toolbox that we can use to address that enforcement is one of those tools. But I think what you'll see is that we have had increased some of our arrests and what we need to do is we also need to think different ways of uh addressing the problem. So you, you're aware that there are businesses that are leaving downtown, there are long standing businesses that are leaving. Um, um at least three, you know, we just had two guests on earlier. Um, and there's *** third business business that's leaving. Uh, let's start with the crime. First of all, um, we've reported *** number of shootings um, that take place downtown one hitting the Omni William Penn. Uh We spoke with *** tenant who lives in an apartment who found *** bullet in her, her, her dwelling place. And so the question is, um, is this as bad as we're reporting it? Is it as bad as the public perception makes it? Well, I think regardless, you know, public perception is somebody's reality. And so we have work to do downtown. Uh what I will say is we have increased our presence downtown. We've put up *** new initiative downtown which increased our presence probably 3 to 4 fold of what we normally would have in that area. We've also, I like to and the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police likes to call some relationship based policing strategies and what that is is some geographic responsibility. So what we've done is we have broken downtown into some grids. We have assigned the same officers to those areas and the mission for those officers is to have ownership of those areas. So know the who, what, when, where, why and how in their areas. And so they get to know all the individuals that frequent their area on *** daily basis, develop what is so to say, so to speak. Um you know, common behavior and, uh, look for the, uh, uncommon behavior basically talking about the old fashioned beat process. Uh, that's ***, uh, it keeps coming back up because it works. Where are, what, what are identified as the hot spots of downtown where *** lot of this crime is happening. So when you say crime, there's, uh, there's very varying levels of crime and there's, um, you know what I would say, some, some disorder going on. Um and some crime, I would say that 400 to 700 block of Smithfield Street as an area that we're trying to concentrate on Mellon Park. Another area that we're currently trying to concentrate on the Liberty Avenue Corridor. The 700 to 900 block is another area that we're looking to concentrate our efforts on. Ok, step by step. How do you remedy each of those situations? Well, I think what I said earlier is some of it is enforcement and when that doesn't work, we as law enforcement have to think of doing things differently. And so I think we need to look at some of our criminal justice partners, the courts, the D *** s office, the public defender's office, the judges, our social service partners and maybe figure out *** different way of handling some of those underlying issues as police, we oftentimes only treat the symptoms of society and really, we don't really address curing the illness. And so we need to kind of think about how we cure that illness. Any final thoughts? No, I'm optimistic about downtown. I think *** lot of downtown, the problems have not occurred overnight. Our initiative is about six weeks old. We as law enforcement are prepared to make downtown the greatest city in America. You're watching W T *** E listens. We'll be right back and welcome back to W T *** E listens. Whether you live in one of Pittsburgh's neighborhoods or any surrounding communities, tell us what's wrong and what's right in your area. So we can listen, you can send us an email. W T *** E listens at hearst dot com. Thanks for joining us and have *** good week.