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Pittsburgh, PA – Council President Lavelle, together with Councilman Mosley, recently introduced amendments to the Stop the Violence Trust Fund, which was established in 2021 to provide dedicated resources to tackle gun violence as a public health crisis in Pittsburgh. Thanks to coordinated efforts and strategic investments made from the fund, homicides in 2024 saw a reduction of 19%, and non-fatal shootings were reduced that same year by 28%.
This past Sunday the Post-Gazette published an editorial which effectively calls for a pause of the Stop the Violence program. Following is the response to that editorial from Council President Lavelle, which highlights the importance of the Trust Fund to continue to reduce gun violence in Pittsburgh:
To the Post-Gazette Editorial Board-
The Post-Gazette Editorial Board’s recent characterization of the Stop the Violence Trust Fund as a “slush fund” is not only misleading, it disrespects the intent behind its creation, the community partners engaged, and the progress it has helped deliver. As one of the original architects of this fund, I feel compelled to set the record straight.
This fund was established because we understood that if we were going to get serious about reducing gun violence in Pittsburgh, we had to take a comprehensive, public health approach. One that addressed not just the symptoms of violence, but its root causes. That’s why, with Council’s approval and Mayor Peduto’s signature, we dedicated a matching percentage of the police budget to community-based violence prevention efforts. This ensured the city would invest in both traditional law enforcement and non-policing strategies aimed at saving lives without cutting the police budget.
We created the Stop the Violence Trust Fund to ensure stable, ongoing support for the people and programs doing the difficult, often invisible work of interrupting violence before it happens. These aren’t abstract concepts, they are proven interventions that Pittsburghers have built and trusted. And in 2024, they helped deliver the lowest number of homicides since 2019, with homicides down 19% and non-fatal shootings down 28%.
I’m going to say this plainly: this isn’t a broken system, it’s an evolving one. And it's working. Programs like Reach, our City’s Street Outreach Team, partially funded by this initiative, are out there every day, mediating disputes, defusing retaliation, and literally saving lives. You don’t have to take my word for it; the data speaks for itself.
Can the administration improve how the fund is administered? Absolutely, and that’s exactly why we’ve introduced reforms. The legislation I co-sponsored with Councilman Khari Mosley strengthens oversight, outlines clearer rules for expenditures, and adds a formalized steering committee to ensure transparency and community accountability. We’re taking corrective steps. But what we won’t do is dismantle the very tool that’s helping to make our city safer just to shift funding toward other needs.
This is especially critical when the federal government has slashed over $800 million in Department of Justice (DOJ) grants meant to support local gun violence prevention and crime reduction efforts, including programs right here in Pittsburgh. These cuts come on top of hundreds of millions already taken from other essential public services and make our commitment even more imperative.
Let's be honest, you can't talk about public safety without talking about poverty. Reducing violence requires addressing the conditions that give rise to it: joblessness, disinvestment, trauma, and generational neglect. That’s why so much of my work, from housing policy to the Community Benefits Agreement in the Lower Hill District, has focused on economic empowerment and long-term community development. These aren't separate issues. Public safety and gun violence reduction are directly linked to these investments. Public safety is a primary responsibility of municipal government, and these resources are direct investments in both economic and population growth.
Some of our City’s leadership want to see this fund repurposed to patch short-term operational gaps. But this fund was never designed to buy more police cars. It was designed to invest in healing, opportunity, and prevention. That includes everything from trauma support to youth programming, family relocation for safety, and workforce development. These are not side issues, they are core strategies in building a safer, stronger Pittsburgh.
This is an incredible start, but we’re not done. The work is too important. The progress is too real. And the lives impacted are too valuable to be dismissed as a bureaucratic inconvenience. Loss of local resources, on top of federal cuts, will weaken our social safety nets, destabilize public safety, and disproportionately harm our most vulnerable communities.
This is not about politics. It’s about people. And I will continue fighting to ensure this city invests in a public safety model that lifts people up and doesn’t just lock them up.
Sincerely,
R. Daniel Lavelle
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