Pittsburgh Police open new substation on South Side ahead of St. Patrick's Day celebrations
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - With up to 350,00 people coming to downtown Pittsburgh this St. Patrick's Day, many will be celebrating at bars on the city's South Side. Police are increasing their presence by opening a new substation in the neighborhood just in time for the busy holiday weekend.
Bruce Bancroft has lived on the South Side for three years.
"People have this perception that the South Side is a violent place to go," Bancroft said.
Typically, he feels safe.
"Most of the problems are when the bars shut down," Bancroft said.
What's helped is police stepped up patrols last June after crime and violence were getting out of hand, by launching the South Side Entertainment Patrol made up of a little more than 10 officers.
"It seemed to have made a huge difference on those nights," Bancroft said.
Within six months of operations, the team was responsible for 95 arrests, 18 recovered firearms, more than 200 traffic stops, and more than 1,000 written citations.
Now, nearly one year later, Councilperson Bob Charland, who represents the neighborhood, said the group is getting a permanent home at 18th and Mary.
"The hope is that this allows them to be able to do their jobs more efficiently, and also give them a home and somewhere that we say you know, welcome you to our community and we're happy to have you," Charland said.
A spokesperson for Pittsburgh Police said it's an office space for these officers to complete nightly reports, report to roll call and respond quickly to incidents along the East Carson Street corridor.
The spot previously housed Zone 3, until it closed about 15 years ago with the station moving closer to Allentown.
In 2021, the Peduto administration tried to reopen it as a substation. The city council allocated $1.2 million to the project through the American Rescue Plan. Half a million had already been used on brickwork.
When Gainey came in, the plan got delayed.
However, Charland said in the past year, Commander Jeffrey Abraham started it back up.
"We wanted to have it operational by this weekend and St. Patrick's Day," Charland said.
Bancroft just hopes things improve, so the perception changes, and people come back to enjoy all the neighborhood has to offer.
"Anything more they can do to make it safer for everyone, we're all for that," Bancroft said.
Police told KDKA the substation will not be open to the public. It will only be operational from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. Wednesday through Sunday when business picks up on Carson Street.