Pittsburgh seems likely to shift its Downtown policing strategy next year — literally. City Council is poised to approve a new location for the Zone 2 police substation along Wood Street.
Under a plan council members preliminarily approved Tuesday, the station would move from Liberty Avenue to Wood Street just opposite PNC Tower. That location puts police closer to Market Square and the Wood Street light rail station.
According to the Gainey administration, the new facility would be much larger, allowing for more community outreach and collaboration among public safety divisions. The city would rent out three floors at 439 Wood St. and leave behind the Lantern Building at 604 Liberty Ave., which has served as the Downtown substation since 2017.
Both the old location and the new one are owned by PNC Bank.
Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Lee Schmidt said police would use the main floor for meeting space and community outreach, the second floor for office space, and the basement for storage and the bicycle unit.
During a council meeting Tuesday, Schmidt told members that the larger facility will make it easier for police to coordinate with the city’s outreach workers and other Downtown stakeholders.
“It allows not only our police officers to be housed there, but we can have [the] REACH team there, the downtown ambassadors,” Schmidt said. The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership’s ambassadors manage non-criminal nuisances, connect people to mental health services and provide support during large events.
A $590,150 agreement before City Council would cover the cost of renovating the three floors, and pay for five years' worth of rent. After initial facilities improvements and technology installations, the annual rent and utilities would cost the city $85,000 per year. According to Schmidt, PNC offered the city a sweetheart deal to move police operations into the new building.
Despite the steep upfront price tag, police chief Larry Scirotto said the benefits outweigh the cost. “It's a state-of-the-art renovation … that I don't know if we would've been otherwise able to fund on our own,” he told council.
Councilor Dan Lavelle, whose district includes Downtown, was supportive of the plan Tuesday. Lavelle said when the city first sought out a location for a Downtown substation, officials hoped the Lantern Building would be able to provide the community outreach and police support needed to protect Downtown. But, he argued, the size and condition of the building limited what could be done there.
“I think it's fair to say almost no officer wants to work out" of the current facility, Lavelle said. “It’s an atrocious building.”
Lavelle noted that moving police into the new space would be more cost-effective than renovating the current substation to meet the bureau’s needs.
Council voted unanimously to move the contract forward Tuesday. But some members expressed concerns that seem likely to reemerge as the city begins its 2024 budget negotiations.
Councilor Deb Gross criticized the city’s reliance on leased property for the substation.
“We do own a significant amount of property around the city,” Gross noted. “This is not a brand-new problem, but it just kind of adds to my discomfort with the fact that we don't have well-located public facilities, which we should.”
Council president Theresa Kail Smith and Councilor Anthony Coghill, who have been outspoken on police issues, both raised questions about how boosting police downtown could impact other zones.
“Zone 6 is losing almost half of their officers and crime is increasing in our area not decreasing,” said Kail Smith, referring to a police zone south of the rivers that overlays much of her district. “I’m concerned about the number of officers. I’m concerned about the small [recruit] class sizes.”
Coghill echoed concerns expressed during last year’s budget hearings about the city’s inability to recruit officers at the pace current officers are leaving or retiring.
“I worry about people from Zone 3 and Zone 6 that patrol my area being pulled into Downtown when we have such dwindling numbers as it is,” Coghill said. “Ultimately we’re going to be underwater.”
Concerns about police staffing, vehicles and policy have been hot topics in council during previous budget negotiations. And with Mayor Gainey’s 2024 budget proposal anticipating 50 fewer police officers than this year — a change the mayor promised is temporary — it seems likely these topics will reemerge when council discusses the police budget on Nov. 30.
City Council is scheduled to take a final vote on the plan to move the downtown substation next week.
