Kevin Acklin's Public Safety Remarks
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Tuesday, September 29, 2009
PROTECTING NEIGHBORHOODS FIRST: The Acklin Plan for Public Safety
Kevin Acklin | September 28, 2009 | Remarks as Prepared for Delivery
[Read Kevin's Public Safety Plan.]
Thank you for coming out this morning.
A Personal Commitment
Public safety, for me, is a deeply personal commitment, borne from generations of public service in my family.
My grandfather, Chuck Harris, was a Battalion Chief in the Pittsburgh Fire Bureau. My uncle, Dan Acklin, was a fire fighter in our city. My brother Dan is a State Trooper, and was one of the thousands of police officers called in to protect Pittsburghers during the G20. I understand the dedication our uniformed men and women give, and the sacrifices they make, every day to keep us safe. When I’m mayor, their dedication will never be taken for granted, and their sacrifices will never be forgotten.
I also understand the impact our uniformed men and women can have on our families and communities. When I was a little boy, my family fell victim to domestic violence. It was a trying time for my family, and though my Mom raised my brothers and me on her own, it was never easy. We were poor, and at times we were scared. But thanks to the swift actions of our police officers and our criminal justice system, my life, my Mom’s life – our family’s lives – were protected. And improved.
That’s the kind of impact that committed, compassionate law enforcement officials can make, and that’s the standard our uniformed men and women strive to achieve.
A Foundation Issue
With that personal commitment, and with the understanding that public safety is the foundation for families and communities, for neighborhood growth and economic stability, I am announcing my plan for public safety in Pittsburgh. I pledge that I will work every day as your mayor to protect our neighborhoods from drugs, vandalism, burglary, and violent crime.
Right now, many of our police resources go into big public events, like the G-20 and the Stanley Cup Finals, but not enough resources are committed day-to-day in our neighborhoods. If we are going to grow as a City, make Pittsburgh a destination for young families looking for safe communities, and secure our future as the most livable city in America, we need to protect our neighborhoods first.
My public safety plan does just that. By re-focusing a larger portion of our public safety resources on the neighborhoods, we can help make Pittsburgh the safest big city in America.
Neighborhood-Based Policing
The plan starts with a REAL commitment to neighborhood-based policing.
Currently, the City's strategy is a patchwork of poorly coordinated programs that cover only a small portion of the city. The result is a “band-aid” approach to crime prevention policy, and some programs like the Pittsburgh Initiative to Reduce Crime, which was announced over a year ago and promised results within six months, still have yet to be delivered.
Now, the current administration will say they have a “community problem solving” approach for the whole city, but people in the neighborhoods tell me they aren't seeing it. When I’m talking to them at community meetings, or on their front porches, or in their living rooms, they tell me that they're feeling less safe in their neighborhoods. They tell me that there’s too much crime in Pittsburgh, and that more must be done to stop it.
That’s why I’ll commit to putting more officers on neighborhood patrols, with more visibility in our business districts and near our playgrounds. I’ll commit more officers to school and community events, for safety education and crime prevention. I’ll invest in neighborhood block watches, domestic violence prevention, and drug and alcohol treatment options for non-violent offenders so we can break the cycle of crime.
And I’ll immediately create a new “Neighborhood Safety Commission” comprised of public safety experts, active duty police officers, and community leaders that would advise me and implement a safety plan for our neighborhoods.
Common Sense Investment in the Police Force
The second part of my plan is to make new, common-sense investments in our police force.
Our uniformed men and women are dedicated and hard working, but they’re not getting the resources they need to protect our city from those who would do it harm. I’ve heard this time and time again from the police officers I talk to: they need better equipment and newer technology, the most useful tools on hand to keep us, and also themselves, safe.
We can make several investments in our police force that would have an immediate impact. First, and most importantly, I will pledge to increase the size of the Police Bureau by 200 officers in my first term as Pittsburgh's Mayor. We need more officers on the streets, more officers in the neighborhoods, and more officers working in investigations to help solve the backlogged caseload of narcotics and homicide related crimes.
But there are also other, more affordable investments that must be made to help officers with their day-to-day police work, including: radios that work in dead zones and have one-touch panic buttons; a “silent dispatch” system to facilitate more open communication between officers and dispatch; personal GPS systems for each officer so dispatch can see where they are and more effectively deploy them to crime scenes; ceramic shields and bullet proof vests that can withstand assault rifles; and rifles for each police officer to buy from the city and use on active duty.
Increased Officer Retention
The third, and final, part of my plan is to increase police officer retention.
It’s time to end the Pittsburgh Police Bureau's de facto “farm team” status. Too many of our City's finest serve for a under a decade, and then leave for other departments. When an officer leaves the City, we're not just losing an experienced officer on the beat, we're losing almost $200,000 the City has invested in training that officer. If we want to build strong links between the community and the police bureau, we need to entice officers to stay working in our neighborhoods for years to come.
Studies show that officers are looking for good pay, improved safety, and better opportunities for advancement in their job, and they will go where they have the best opportunities. That’s why I’ll invest in new training facilities, with more rigorous training opportunities and educational incentives for our officers. I’ll make a stronger commitment to officer safety, launch a comprehensive study on pay and benefits to make sure our officers are getting the compensation they deserve, and solve the pension crisis, with the plan I’ve already outlined, to make sure our officers get the retirements they earn.
No other candidate has a stronger, more personal commitment to public safety than me, and I will make it a top priority when I am elected Mayor.
Thank you.
Thank you for coming out this morning.
A Personal Commitment
Public safety, for me, is a deeply personal commitment, borne from generations of public service in my family.
My grandfather, Chuck Harris, was a Battalion Chief in the Pittsburgh Fire Bureau. My uncle, Dan Acklin, was a fire fighter in our city. My brother Dan is a State Trooper, and was one of the thousands of police officers called in to protect Pittsburghers during the G20. I understand the dedication our uniformed men and women give, and the sacrifices they make, every day to keep us safe. When I’m mayor, their dedication will never be taken for granted, and their sacrifices will never be forgotten.
I also understand the impact our uniformed men and women can have on our families and communities. When I was a little boy, my family fell victim to domestic violence. It was a trying time for my family, and though my Mom raised my brothers and me on her own, it was never easy. We were poor, and at times we were scared. But thanks to the swift actions of our police officers and our criminal justice system, my life, my Mom’s life – our family’s lives – were protected. And improved. That’s the kind of impact that committed, compassionate law enforcement officials can make, and that’s the standard our uniformed men and women strive to achieve.
A Foundation Issue
With that personal commitment, and with the understanding that public safety is the foundation for families and communities, for neighborhood growth and economic stability, I am announcing my plan for public safety in Pittsburgh. I pledge that I will work every day as your mayor to protect our neighborhoods from drugs, vandalism, burglary, and violent crime.
Right now, many of our police resources go into big public events, like the G-20 and the Stanley Cup Finals, but not enough resources are committed day-to-day in our neighborhoods. If we are going to grow as a City, make Pittsburgh a destination for young families looking for safe communities, and secure our future as the most livable city in America, we need to protect our neighborhoods first.
My public safety plan does just that. By re-focusing a larger portion of our public safety resources on the neighborhoods, we can help make Pittsburgh the safest big city in America.
Neighborhood-Based Policing
The plan starts with a REAL commitment to neighborhood-based policing.
Currently, the City's strategy is a patchwork of poorly coordinated programs that cover only a small portion of the city. The result is a “band-aid” approach to crime prevention policy, and some programs like the Pittsburgh Initiative to Reduce Crime, which was announced over a year ago and promised results within six months, still have yet to be delivered.
Now, the current administration will say they have a “community problem solving” approach for the whole city, but people in the neighborhoods tell me they aren't seeing it. When I’m talking to them at community meetings, or on their front porches, or in their living rooms, they tell me that they're feeling less safe in their neighborhoods. They tell me that there’s too much crime in Pittsburgh, and that more must be done to stop it.
That’s why I’ll commit to putting more officers on neighborhood patrols, with more visibility in our business districts and near our playgrounds. I’ll commit more officers to school and community events, for safety education and crime prevention. I’ll invest in neighborhood block watches, domestic violence prevention, and drug and alcohol treatment options for non-violent offenders so we can break the cycle of crime.
And I’ll immediately create a new “Neighborhood Safety Commission” comprised of public safety experts, active duty police officers, and community leaders that would advise me and implement a safety plan for our neighborhoods.
Common Sense Investment in the Police Force
The second part of my plan is to make new, common-sense investments in our police force.
Our uniformed men and women are dedicated and hard working, but they’re not getting the resources they need to protect our city from those who would do it harm. I’ve heard this time and time again from the police officers I talk to: they need better equipment and newer technology, the most useful tools on hand to keep us, and also themselves, safe.
We can make several investments in our police force that would have an immediate impact. First, and most importantly, I will pledge to increase the size of the Police Bureau by 200 officers in my first term as Pittsburgh's Mayor. We need more officers on the streets, more officers in the neighborhoods, and more officers working in investigations to help solve the backlogged caseload of narcotics and homicide related crimes.
But there are also other, more affordable investments that must be made to help officers with their day-to-day police work, including: radios that work in dead zones and have one-touch panic buttons; a “silent dispatch” system to facilitate more open communication between officers and dispatch; personal GPS systems for each officer so dispatch can see where they are and more effectively deploy them to crime scenes; ceramic shields and bullet proof vests that can withstand assault rifles; and rifles for each police officer to buy from the city and use on active duty.
Increased Officer Retention
The third, and final, part of my plan is to increase police officer retention.
It’s time to end the Pittsburgh Police Bureau's de facto “farm team” status. Too many of our City's finest serve for a under a decade, and then leave for other departments. When an officer leaves the City, we're not just losing an experienced officer on the beat, we're losing almost $200,000 the City has invested in training that officer. If we want to build strong links between the community and the police bureau, we need to entice officers to stay working in our neighborhoods for years to come.
Studies show that officers are looking for good pay, improved safety, and better opportunities for advancement in their job, and they will go where they have the best opportunities. That’s why I’ll invest in new training facilities, with more rigorous training opportunities and educational incentives for our officers. I’ll make a stronger commitment to officer safety, launch a comprehensive study on pay and benefits to make sure our officers are getting the compensation they deserve, and solve the pension crisis, with the plan I’ve already outlined, to make sure our officers get the retirements they earn.
No other candidate has a stronger, more personal commitment to public safety than me, and I will make it a top priority when I am elected Mayor.
Thank you.
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