Downtown safety ambassadors hit the streets

Friday, August 11, 2006

Nine specially trained safety ambassadors have begun patrolling the Golden Triangle for the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, which started the program to help reassure visitors about safety in the area.

Introducing the program at an event in Market Square yesterday, partnership officials were joined by city and county officials and U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, who secured a $200,000 federal grant to help start it. Other funding comes from assessments of Downtown property owners, as part of the partnership's promotion efforts.

The ambassadors, wearing identification tags and dressed in black shorts and caps and blue shirts, started work July 1, but officials wanted to give the program a chance to develop before officially introducing them. Receiving $9.50 an hour plus benefits from a partnership contractor known as Block by Block, they have no arrest or enforcement powers but are equipped with two-way radios and cellular phones to assist communications with police, if necessary.

Officials said the ambassadors have primarily been delivering directions to Downtown visitors and discussing the city's panhandling ordinance with panhandlers and merchants. The ambassadors are trained in CPR and other safety-related techniques.