Point Park University’s police department has increased its presence Downtown through joint patrols with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, Port Authority Police and Highmark Police departments.

According to a press release from Point Park police, the collaboration began on Aug. 25 before the start of the fall semester and emphasizes “high-visibility, multi-officer foot patrols in the area surrounding [Point Park’s] campus.”

The increased patrols will “focus on known problem locations to deter crime and enhance safety,” the press release said.

According to Jeff Besong, Point Park’s chief of police, that means doubling down on patrols along Third Avenue between Wood Street and Smithfield Street. Within those boundaries, Besong said, residents of the Wood Street Commons often openly use drugs.

Since the program began, drug-related arrests have massively increased.

Over the past month, there have been 13 drug-related arrests. Last semester, that number was closer to roughly two per month on average, marking a substantial increase in drug arrests.

“It’s working well, according to the officers,” Besong said. “Visibility is great. Our police vehicles are on Third Avenue as a deterrent.”

The collaboration comes as the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police faces staffing shortages. According to the Police Data Initiative website, the Pittsburgh City Police Department currently has 872 officers, its lowest staffing level since 2005.

Besong said the aim of this new initiative is to pick up some of the slack that university officials feel has been created by the shortage of City police.

“The City of Pittsburgh is still understaffed. No one wants to be a police officer now,” Besong said.

In addition to increased patrols, Point Park police have also added two Utopia-brand electric bikes equipped with patrol gear to better respond to incidents along Third Avenue.

“It’s a combination of arresting and having the ability to arrest with the bikes which get us quicker into places where they would see us coming with police cars,” Besong said. “Now it’s really pushing [us] to arrest everyone that’s out here.”

Miracle Jones, director of policy and advocacy at 1Hood Media, said the move from Point Park police rings over-policing alarm bells.

“For people who like to see police officers out and about, that’s what they’re going to be happy about,” Jones said. “But what we have been asking is for a community policing approach.”

Jones pointed officials to the City’s ROOTS, or “Reaching Out On The Streets” program, for that aforementioned community approach. ROOTS aims to send social workers to the scene of  drug-related — and nonviolent — crime instead of police, with advocates arguing social workers are better suited to the needs of such an incident.

Jones said ROOTS is her preferred solution for the issue Point Park is raising.

“If you’re going to give people citations, that means their access to housing is then decreased,” Jones said. “That’s one of the things with over-policing, is those collateral consequences.”

President Chris Brussalis praised the crackdown.

“I think it’s great,” Brussalis said. “We’re always collaborating with the other police agencies. We invest a lot of resources to maintain the safety here.”

The Pittsburgh Police Public Information Office did not respond to multiple requests for comment.