PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh officials are using COVID-19 relief money to buy new vehicles for their emergency crews.
Pittsburgh City Councilman Anthony Coghill feels a sense of relief after the council voted to reallocate funding for 60 new police cruisers and one new pump truck for the fire department.
“The most important thing for our public safety is that we have safe vehicles for us to drive back and forth from emergencies and police cars,” Coghill said. “We have to cover that first.”
Federal money from the American Rescue Plan and the relocated funding make up the $1.7 million needed for the new cruisers.
Coghill says many of the current police cruisers are in bad shape. He says some are even putting officers at risk when they get called to an emergency.
“It’s really bad. I’ll say this. We are fortunate we have really good mechanics and shops. They do what they can do patch them up and keep them safe on the road, however, they continue to decline and it’s to the point where we need new vehicles,” Coghill said.
Some Pittsburgh residents were worried after hearing the vehicles were in dire states.
“If the cars are bad they can’t get nowhere they need help, so I think they need to get on that,” Tameka Collins, who lives in Pittsburgh, said.
Coghill stressed that only part of the problem will be resolved and that allocating money each year for new vehicles should be a priority.
“We have to continue to make investments annually in all public safety. It’s not just fire, police and ambulance. it’s across the board. All of our departments have a certain amount of vehicles,” Coghill said.
The police cruisers will likely arrive soon, but the new fire truck may not be available for a few years.
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