Pittsburgh police, nonprofit offer masks

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, communities are coming together to give back to the people who need it most. In Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Police Department and the nonprofit Global Links are joining forces to make essential resources available to as many people as possible.

Masks are an important part of adequate protection for individuals, especially for people who have weaker immune systems or lack access to basic hygiene. With the Need a Mask, Take a Mask initiative, Sgt. Kline-Costa with her police department’s community outreach program, and Angela Garcia, executive director of Global Links, hope to provide as many masks as possible for Pittsburgh residents.

For Kline-Costa, the effort sends a strong statement about the commitment of police to help people.“The office was started in September of 2019 as a way for the Pittsburgh Police Bureau to make a very loud statement that we feel as strongly about community relations as we do about all the other functions of the police,” said Kline-Costa.

This desire of the Pittsburgh Police Bureau to make a positive change in their communities, as well as a desire to discover different ways in which they can give back, inspired a link between the organizations to get muchneeded masks to the Pittsburgh general public.

“Pittsburgh public safety took the stance that we were not going to use enforcement,”Kline-Costa said.“We were not going to cite people or arrest people or do any kind of enforcement with masks. Instead, what we were going to do is provide folks with masks.”