Gainey defends public safety record a day after Downtown shooting

A day after a teenager was shot in Downtown Pittsburgh, Mayor Ed Gainey on Thursday defended his administration’s public safety record, praised police officers for keeping the city safe and accused local media of not reporting more positive news.

The mayor also stood by his choice for the city’s next police chief, bureau veteran Christopher Ragland, who has been running the force in an acting capacity since November. Gainey railed against those City Council members who are seeking to slow down the process and are calling for more robust public involvement before confirming the appointment.

Gainey made his sometimes heated comments during a first-anniversary celebration of the Downtown police substation on Wood Street. The substation is a block away from the daylight shooting Wednesday that left a teen wounded.

Pittsburgh police said an officer was driving on Smithfield Street about 4 p.m. Wednesday when he heard a gunshot. Multiple officers quickly responded, helped the injured teen and detaining the suspected shooter. No charges had been filed as of Thursday evening.

“I want to thank our officers,” Gainey told reporters. “It’s this type of response that’s made this a city for everybody … While this was an unfortunate incident, it also shows what happens when we all work together.”

The press conference, however, quickly turned combative. Gainey and Ragland asserted that crime was decreasing Downtown, but neither cited statistics. The mayor, who is locked in a contested Democratic primary race for reelection, pushed back when reporters challenged him.

“Don’t believe me — do the math, it adds up,” Gainey told reporters. “I’m not here to ask, ‘Do you see the difference?’ I’m here to say, ‘Look at the progress we made.’”

One TV reporter later asked Gainey to compare 2024 crime statistics Downtown with those from a year earlier.

“I’m not gonna speak without knowledge,” Gainey said. “And I haven’t looked at the numbers.”

More work to do

City officials and civic boosters at the press conference touted efforts by police to develop relationships with businesses and residents. They talked up an initiative to bring two social workers Downtown.

John Valentine, executive director of the Pittsburgh Downtown Neighbors Alliance, said his organization has helped 39 new retailers open Downtown in the last two years.

He also described Downtown restaurants as bustling and said at least one was so packed he had to wait for a table.

“If it wasn’t safe, would people be going to these restaurants?” Valentine said. “It’s safe.”

Pittsburgh police made 827 arrests Downtown last year, according to handouts provided to the media. Officers responded to 705 incidents and 452 overdoses last year in the Central Business District.

Police, however, could not provide matching figures for the prior year, citing a change in crime statistic reporting methods.

There have been two nonfatal shootings Downtown this year, according to police, compared to one in all of 2024.

“We still have a lot of work to do,” Public Safety Director Lee Schmidt said. “And we’re not going to stop til everyone that lives, works and plays Downtown and across the city is safe and feels safe.”

City Councilman Anthony Coghill, who chairs council’s public safety committee, said he believes many still feel wary of Downtown.

“For me, we have a long way to go,” the Beechview Democrat told TribLive after the press conference, which he did not attend. “Obviously we had an incident there yesterday. The perception is still that it’s not very safe.”

Coghill acknowledged violent crime in Pittsburgh has dropped from pandemic levels, a trend that has played out similarly in other U.S. cities.

But he said he doesn’t think it’s time to celebrate.

“I’m skeptical if they’re claiming success,” Coghill said. “I would stop short of tooting our own horn.”

Promote the positive

During a heated exchange in front of public officials, the media and other press conference attendees, Gainey insisted Rick Earle, WPXI’s chief investigative reporter, thank Ragland for making Downtown safe.

When Earle said, “Hey, what’s up, Chris, thank you,” Gainey insisted several times that Earle address the acting chief as “Chief Ragland.” Earle remained silent.

“That’s what I thought,” Gainey said.

“The reality is, public perception comes from you,” Gainey told Earle. “And at the end of the day, if the perception is only on the negative, then that’s what you promote.”

Gainey also asked roughly two dozen supporters in the police substation to applaud for the city’s beauty, the work of police officers and the claim that Pittsburgh is in a better place now than it was a few years ago. They clapped.

Gainey did not directly answer questions about whether he believed an ongoing effort spearheaded by Coghill to ensure Ragland — who Gainey has nominated for permanent police chief — go through an extensive public engagement process before council votes on whether to confirm him.

Coghill said he plans to introduce a bill to mandate that nominees for police chief attend public forums in all six of the city’s police zones. Another bill that council passed requires nominees to answer council’s questions under oath.

“Whatever agenda they may have, a couple people on council have, in regards to who they feel should be chief is on them,” said Gainey, who added that public meetings won’t affect his nomination of Ragland.

“Whether it’s six, 10, 12 (meetings), it’s not going to change my opinion on who it should be,” Gainey added. “I think he’s earned it. I think he’s done an incredible job Downtown.”

Gainey then conducted an impromptu interview with the chief.

“Ragland, you want this job?” Gainey asked.

“I do,” Ragland replied.

The police chief also told reporters he was willing to participate in a proposed series of public meetings on his nomination.

“Any time I can get a chance to get in front of citizens and tell them who I am and what I believe in means something,” Ragland said. “I welcome the opportunity to do that.”