Crime, Courts, and Corrections Guide:Non-Traffic Citations

This guide is part of a larger guide on Crime, Courts and Corrections in the City of Pittsburgh.

In Pennsylvania, non-traffic criminal proceedings are set into motion by either a citation issued to a defendant or an arrest without a warrant. Non-traffic citations typically include a notice to appear before a magisterial judge or trial commissioner if the person receiving the citation is not providing a guilty plea. Citations are given for minor criminal offenses, and are often called summary offenses. The types of offenses that often result in a citation include loitering, disorderly conduct, harassment, public drunkenness, and low-level retail theft. Convictions may result in a fine, and in some cases, non-traffic citations may be expunged from an offender’s criminal record if certain conditions are met.

What's Included in the Data

Publicly Available

• Location generalized to block
• Type of incident
• Date
• Time
• Offender demographics

Not Publicly Available

• Actual location of offense
• Name and address of offender

Where to Find the Data

• Non-Traffic Citations are published through the Western Pennsylvania Region Data Center and is updated daily.
• This data is also featured on the City of Pittsburgh's Burgh's Eye View mapping tool

Things to Know

For more information on non-traffic citations in Pennsylvania, please see the following sites:

• The Pennsylvania Code
• The Website of the Community Legal Services of Philadelphia
• The Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Consumer Legal Information Pamphlets