Public Safety Leaders Begin Assigning Security Personnel For G-20 Summit

The Pittsburgh police chief said he may need four times the number of officers he currently has if the city is to provide adequate security during the G-20 summit this fall.

City leaders aren’t sure yet how they’ll make that happen. “We are just now beginning to assign personnel,” Public Safety Director Mike Huss told Channel 11 News on Monday. He added that Chief Nate Harper’s plan for 4,000 officers is being talked about, but isn’t final.

Harper said he hopes to have more than 4,000 officers on hand for the Sept. 24-25 G-20 meeting on the global economy. Since the city currently has 877 police officers, security planners must draw from other law enforcement agencies to guard leaders of the world's 20 largest economic powers.

“Understand that we are going to do everything within our power to make the city safe, secure and to have a good, positive event reflected internationally in a positive way about the city of Pittsburgh," Huss said.

The Secret Service is coordinating the overall security, and help will be needed from dozens of cities in Pennsylvania and around the country. Pittsburgh officials also plan to seek help from state police in Maryland, New York and West Virginia, and state police currently plan to send about 400 troopers to the city.

About 10,000 officers worked April's G-20 meeting in London.

Maj. Terry Seilhamer, of the Butler barracks, said state police will provide at least one special emergency response team and several helicopters, and troopers will get refresher training for riot control.

Lt. Col. Chris Cleaver said there had been no formal requests to the Pennsylvania National Guard, but they are planning for possible missions for the G-20. Near Pittsburgh are two large Guard units, Pittsburgh International Airport's 1,500-member 171st Air Refueling Wing and the 2,348-member 2nd Brigade Combat Team in Washington, Pa.

Warden Ramon Rustin of the Allegheny County Jail said officials are working on a plan to deal with mass arrests.

Some free-speech advocates and groups planning protests said they are worried about the preparations.

When you have reports of huge numbers of police coming in, it suggests they plan to cordon off much of Pittsburgh and prevent meaningful protest," said Jules Lobel, vice president of the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, which was involved in lawsuits stemming from the 2004 Republican National Convention.

"There are certainly security concerns, but those concerns have to be balanced with First Amendment rights to protest," said Lobel, a law professor at the University of Pittsburgh. "If there are law violators, the police ought to arrest them, but not arrest hundreds of other people."

Advocates said they will oppose such tactics as the "kettling" by London police that kept large groups confined in one area for hours.

"We will not be put in cages," said Carole Wiedmann, of the Thomas Merton Center's Anti-War Committee.

A group formed earlier this month called the Pittsburgh G-20 Resistance Project said on its Web site that it plans to "confront systems of oppression by advocating forms of resistance which maximize respect for life and oppressed peoples' rights, and construct local alternatives to global capitalism."

La Roche College history professor Paul Le Blanc said organizers are seeking a site for a planned Sept. 21-22 "People's Summit" with speeches and panel discussions related to the G-20.

Harper said a written policy on demonstrations would be in place before the summit.

Elizabeth Pittinger, executive director of the Citizen Police Review Board, said the board has been asking police to put their crowd-control policies in writing for several years.

"For protesters, we have to make sure the message to them is, 'You're not the enemy,"' she said. "It's a wonderful opportunity for the city. But it's going to be a huge challenge to pull it off peacefully and safely."

Previous Stories: June 26, 2009: Secret Service Official Head Of Pittsburgh G-20 June 24, 2009: Pittsburgh Braces For G-20 Summit Headaches June 23, 2009: G-20 Brainstorming Sessions Held On RMU, Pitt Campuses June 22, 2009: Pittsburgh Bringing London Staff For G-20 Planning June 19, 2009: G-20 Brainstorming Session Held At Point Park June 19, 2009: Financial Oversight Board Approves G-20 Funding June 17, 2009: Some G-20 Leaders Will Stay At Nemacolin Resort June 8, 2009: Group Launches River Cleanup In Advance Of G-20 June 1, 2009: Ravenstahl Insulted' By Media Reaction To G-20 Summit Announcement