KDKA - Pittsburgh's Source for Breaking News: O'Connor Intoduces New Potential Security Measures: "The mayor met with officials from the city schools and the Port Authority on Thursday to discuss possible measures to increase security.Remember January 2 PAT bus schedule and the need of Pgh Public Schools to nix that as a 'school day.' Well, I took some heat to mention that PAT is starting to dictate our school schedule. Now, the next step is taken. The mayor wants to adjust the time of the school day so we have a safer downtown.
They are looking at several possibilities including moving bus stops or changing schedules of some of the 1,200 students who go to school Downtown.
There will immediately be an increased police presence Downtown.
Mayor Bob O�Connor showed a KDKA-TV story, the focus of which was large crowds of teens gathered downtown that may cause trouble."
Solution: Begin by giving an overhaul to the crossing guards. Then count me as one who wants to build up on the other end of the spectrum. I don't want more jails. Rather, we need to give the kids more to shoot for and to shoot at.
The Downtown YWCA, a fitness facility with a basketball court and swim pool -- CLOSED. That's what the kids need, not more officers to boss them around.
Furthermore, the extra police will only push the kids to a near-by area, say, Station Square or some other neighborhood.
We have a serious problem with these kids because they have been ignored.
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The mayor met with officials from the city schools and the Port Authority on Thursday to discuss possible measures to increase security.
They are looking at several possibilities including moving bus stops or changing schedules of some of the 1,200 students who go to school Downtown.
There will immediately be an increased police presence Downtown.
Mayor Bob O�Connor showed a KDKA-TV story, the focus of which was large crowds of teens gathered downtown that may cause trouble.
�We are going to have a lot more police downtown,� said Pittsburgh Police Chief Dom Costa. �We are going to work on perception. When we change the perception, we will be better off.�
The problem has taken years to develop and O�Connor knows it will not be fixed in a day. There are a lot of issues and a lot of logistical problems.
The group that gathered Thursday will meet again in two weeks.
You and your crossing guard stuff. Crossing gurads main focus is to cross the children across the streets, not to write moving violations. They don't have the capability or the manpower to do such a thing.
We've got a serious problem with economics and effective deployment of people. I think that should be challenged and re-examined. If you don't -- you might be in a rut. We have to break out of the status quo. And, all that is old is not all that is bad.
The concept of crossing guards worked. We had, and could have again, safer streets if we put more effort, energy and spending into crossing guards. And, let's re-tool the guards too.
The EMS / Firefighter problems loom large. The 'can do attitude' is needed there too.
We have a problem with a retirement craze that took away many detectives in the police force. We didn't hire a new firefighters class for seven years. We are understaffed with police -- by 30 or more in Zone 3 alone.
Many police are with overtime to push their salary to more than $100,000. The whole system is dysfunctional due to poor management. Those past managers (prior administration) are the one's who fired the crossing guards. That was wrongheaded too.
Now that we have a new administration -- they've got to fix a lot of the wrongs of the recent past. The one that needs to be put into the limelight again is crossing guards.
The notion of a 'safe zone' of 1,000 feet around every school is solved with four to eight crossing guards who have radios and more aggressive powers. If crossing guards interface with police, (city, county, school, parking, state even), then we'll have much of this protection matter resolved.
How many crossing guards were on duty around the civic arena last night when the high school basketball games were going on -- and shots were fired?
Bang for the buck -- pun intended -- comes with un-armed crossing guards who hang in the hoods and get to know the regulars and are with a constant pulse at the most dangerous points.
This is a wellness, lifeguard like situation that is with modest costs and tremendous results.
I don't advocate the change in a main focus of the crossing guards to tickets and citations. But, that extra leverage should be part of the overhaul of their duties and capacities.
I've not done the math -- yet -- and I wonder if I'll have time in the next week.... But.... if we re-hired 400 crossing guards for regular shifts -- how much does that cost? And, how many got fired and were pushed into retirement a couple of years ago, 200? And, for that sum of money, annually, how many police does that equal -- 20?
Is the ratio of crossing guard:beat police officer (with associated expenses) = 10:1 or more = 20:1. ???
Police disperse postgame crowds Downtown
Friday, March 03, 2006
Police had to disperse a large crowd of teens after fighting broke out among several hundred young people who attended the City League basketball championships at Mellon Arena.
A 16-year-old boy was shot in the shoulder near the Hill House in the Hill District moments after the fracas and one person was pepper sprayed, but no other serious problems were reported.
The boy, who was grazed, walked with his friend down to the Zone 2 police station and waited for an ambulance. It was unclear whether he was shot by a pedestrian on the other side of the street or from a moving car.
A large number of officers also responded to the Wood Street Station after a crowd of about 300 people congregated there after the basketball games.
Crossing guards will not work unarmed in the hood at night.
Most of these crossing guards care about just crossing the kids and ignoring the rest and getting home, why should they care about other things when kids are cursing at them and throwing trash around all day? It's not their neighborhood. They get paid enough to care.
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