Greensburg, PA – Yesterday, the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency’s (PCCD) Office of Gun Violence Prevention hosted the third in a series of regional listening sessions at the University of Pittsburgh Greensburg to share what’s working to reduce violence, where additional resources are needed, and how the state can help support community-driven solutions to make the region and Pennsylvania safer.
“At the state-level, we’re continuing to make critical investments that are improving public safety in counties across our Commonwealth. The 2026-27 state budget doubles down on important programs that are helping to reduce crime and gun violence—but one life lost is one too many,” said Charla Plaines, Director of PCCD’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention.
"Here in Southwest Pennsylvania, we’re seeing progress in reducing homicides across the region. To continue this positive trend, we must establish strong collaboration across multiple systems.
By bringing together regional partners for these convenings, we hope to build new relationships and strengthen existing ones to make communities across our Commonwealth safer.”
Yesterday’s listening session brought together individuals from community-based organizations, criminal justice and reentry, victim services, youth-serving organizations, and more for a discussion centered around regional trends as well as programs that are making an impact in their communities.
Some key gun violence-related trends in the SW region include:
- 127 homicides were reported across the region in 2025, a 34 percent decrease from 192 in 2024.
- 272 adult firearm suicides in the region in 2023, an increase from 269 in 2022.
- 27 domestic violence victim fatalities were reported in 2024, down from 28 in 2023.
- 12 out of 13 Southwestern Pennsylvania counties are utilizing the evidence-based Lethality Assessment Protocol (LAP) to reduce domestic violence homicides and identified 919 high-danger responses in 2024.
- More than 87 percent of local students participating in the 2025 Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS) reported that it would be “sort of hard” or “very hard” to obtain a handgun, and 14 percent of youth surveyed seriously considered attempting suicide.
The goal of these listening sessions is to compile a report identifying additional actions needed and highlighting the state’s progress in reducing gun violence since Governor Shapiro signed Executive Order 2024-02 on September 9, 2024, re-establishing the Pennsylvania Office of Gun Violence Prevention within PCCD. Since then, the office has gathered feedback from nearly 900 Pennsylvanians and held seven statewide listening sessions. It has also convened a statewide advisory committee and launched four subcommittees focused on key gun violence prevention priorities, and released an Initial Report and Strategic Plan.
Governor Shapiro’s signed 2026-27 state budget delivers funding to further strengthen public safety through a comprehensive approach—supporting law enforcement, investing in community-focused gun violence prevention initiatives, caring for victims, and addressing the root causes of violence, including:
- More than $50 million for the VIP program, which drives dollars out to community-based organizations to reduce gun violence;
- $11.5 million for the Building Opportunities through Out-of-School Time (BOOST) initiative to keep kids safe, supported, and engaged in afterschool and summer programming;
- $16.2 million in funding to train four additional Pennsylvania State Police cadet classes;
- More than $100 million in school safety and mental health funding for K–12 schools and $20 million for nonpublic schools, municipalities, law enforcement agencies, and approved school security personnel providers to improve security;
- $10 million for nonprofit and faith-based organizations to combat hate crimes by enhancing the security measures at their facilities;
- $7.5 million to ensure public defenders have the resources they need to provide legal representation to defendants who cannot pay for it on their own;
- $2.5 million to establish a new grant program supporting law enforcement agencies with the tools and resources they need to improve clearance rates for homicides and other violent crimes;
- $4.5 million to support victims and survivors in the aftermath of crime through the Victims Compensation Assistance Program (VCAP); and
- A $12 million increase for rape crisis centers across the Commonwealth — the largest increase in history and nearly doubling their overall support. The Governor visited a rape crisis center to talk about the investment.
To learn more about Pennsylvania’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention and the Shapiro-Davis Administration's work to reduce gun violence, visit the PCCD website.