Project gets go-ahead

faces. Chief Schubert said they can provide advice and expertise to other zone officers when a significant event happens within the neighborhood.

Mr. Peduto said the longterm idea is to refine and expand the program into every Pittsburgh neighborhood over the next few years, as the police force continues to grow. For now, he said, he hopes the neighborhood officers will be in place by summer in the pilot neighborhoods: Marshall-Shadeland, East Allegheny, Troy Hill, Downtown, Middle Hill, Uptown, Allentown, Carrick, Knoxville, Hazelwood, Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, East Hills, Homewood, Lincoln-Lemington, Beechview, Elliott and Sheraden.

“We’re grateful for any kind of attempt to provide more opportunity for the community to engage,” said Phyllis DiDiano, president of the Beechview Area Concerned Citizens. She said the neighborhood has a good baseline established with officers but that she hopes to grow that relationship.

“It’s helpful to have a personal relationship,” Ms. DiDiano said. “It will be nice to have someone focused on us so we don’t take away from other issues.”

City Councilwoman Theresa Kail-Smith said she feels “like no neighborhood will be left out of this effort.”

“Obviously, we hope that it will [bring] a decrease in crime,” Mrs. Kail-Smith said. “Building great relationships is wonderful, but if it doesn’t have an impact on crime, it’s not really the benefit that I want to see.”