South Side Police Station Moving; 'Saturation Patrols' To Increase

Pittsburgh Police Focus On Southern Hilltop Neighborhood Crime

POSTED: 2:13 pm EDT July 18, 2008
UPDATED: 8:22 pm EDT July 18, 2008

PITTSBURGH -- The city will move one of its police stations from the South Side Flats to the nearby hilltop community of Allentown and increase so-called "saturation patrols" in southern hilltop neighborhoods.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl announced the plan Friday afternoon, saying it will bring police officers closer to communities such as St. Clair Village, Allentown, Arlington, Knoxville, Beltzhoover and Carrick, and help them better deal with crime problems in those areas.

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"Every night I go to bed, I say a prayer for my family, and then I say a prayer for the hilltop," said Judy Hackel, of the Allentown Community Development Corp.

Starting Jan. 1, the Zone 3 police station will be relocated from its current home on Mary Street to a building at the intersection of Arlington and Warrington avenues.

Also in January, the city will put together a plan for reviving its curfew center at a yet-to-be-named location. Youths under 18 who are caught violating the city's nighttime curfew will be taken there.

City officials won't have the plan in place until January because, "in this short window of time, we would not be able to provide the necessary resources, I believe, to have it be a successful enforcement of the curfew," Ravenstahl said.

Ravenstahl said he was in a meeting Thursday when he got word about the area's latest shooting, which happened on Mountain Street and injured a student from The Academy and the van driver who was dropping off children.

According to the mayor, finding a new location for the Zone 3 station is something that has been in the works since he took office.

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