By Jill King Greenwood
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh police say they will continue to benefit from the millions of dollars spent to prepare for the Group of 20 summit.
“We spent months getting ready for this and it was a lot of preparation, but we’ll see the dividends of that for a long time to come,” Public Safety Director Michael Huss said. “It was invaluable to us.”
Huss said the summit forced the city to upgrade equipment and undergo hundreds of hours of civil disturbance training from the Department of Homeland Security.
Deputy police Chief Paul Donaldson said the training involved 716 of the force’s 872 officers as well as 254 officers from the Allegheny County police, county Sheriff’s Office, Port Authority Transit and University of Pittsburgh.
Medics and firefighters also were trained as “cut teams” to handle “sleeping dragons” -- a situation that involves protesters chaining themselves together using PVC pipe and locks to disrupt traffic and impede arrest.
The city outfitted each officer with a gas mask and filter canisters and an air- purifying respirator. Every officer was outfitted in riot gear -- including helmet, shield, baton, facemask, chest protector, elbow and knee pads, forearms protectors and shin guards.
There were 6,000 police officers deployed throughout the city during the week of the event to handle an estimated 5,000 protesters. A half dozen officers reported minor injuries.
A federal grant of $200,000 allowed police to buy four Long Range Acoustic Devices, or LRADs, which were used to disperse protesters. An LRAD can broadcast high-pitched warnings in English, Spanish and other languages.
One LRAD was installed on the city’s Ballistic Engineered Armored Response vehicle -- known as BEAR -- for use during protests and standoff situations. Another LRAD will be placed on another SWAT vehicle. Allegheny County police will get the other two LRADs, officials said.
Police headquarters on Western Avenue in the North Side also got a makeover. Officials installed video surveillance, a security system and privacy screens on doors leading to Chief Nate Harper’s offices and the G-20 liaison unit room.
“That’s all stuff that probably should have been done before,” Huss said.
A major benefit of the G-20 was development of a comprehensive traffic plan by police Lt. Joseph Tersak. The plan shut down most of Downtown to vehicle traffic but still allowed access for emergency vehicles and some delivery trucks.
“Now we know that we can shut down Downtown if we need to,” Huss said. “Now, there were a lot less people Downtown that week, let’s be honest. But to block off the city and keep the highways moving with 20 heads of state and their delegations in town is pretty amazing.”
Huss said he expects other agencies to call on Pittsburgh for advice in the future.
“A lot of plans ... developed by groups and subcommittees were never executed because they weren’t needed,” Huss said. “Fire and EMS had very extensive plans for mass outbreaks of fires and medical emergencies. If something had gone wrong, we were ready.”
Police said 83 people were arrested during the G-20, which ended at 9:30 p.m. Sept. 25. Protesters in Oakland caused about $50,000 in damage to businesses -- the bulk of which has been blamed on a California man.
Demonstrations the night of Sept. 25 in Oakland -- after the summit ended -- led to 110 arrests and prompted claims of police brutality.
Copyright 2009 Pittsburgh Tribune-Review