PITTSBURGH — The official start to the holiday season will kick off on Saturday with Pittsburgh’s Light Up Night and police are preparing to keep the over 70,000 visitors safe.
“They are going to see officers in uniform walking around, talking to people and they are also going to see people in play clothes,” Pittsburgh Police Commander Timothy Novosel said.
Joining Pittsburgh police will be the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Department, Allegheny County Police, and community outreach partners.
The outreach partners are volunteers in the community who work to de-escalate situations before law enforcement needs to get involved. 75 to 100 officers will be Downtown throughout the celebration.
“Resources will include patrol units, canine teams, EOD teams, SWAT, mounted unit, plain clothes, intelligence units, cycle traffic units. We will have officers assigned to camera monitoring, command center and we will also have drone coverage,” said Novosel.
Market Square is usually filled with the holiday chalets and vendors, but this year, they will move to the cultural district because of construction.
“I think Market Square is the best place, but obviously it can’t be at Market Square, so I feel like the cultural district is probably the best place to put it temporarily,” said Diana Magera.
Pittsburgh police are recommending you take an Uber, Lyft or public transportation.
If you have to drive, make sure you are in a garage. They tell us street parking will be limited.
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