PITTSBURGH — The city of Pittsburgh is moving forward with plans to build a public safety training facility on the site of the old VA Hospital.
That’s despite opposition from some who call it a “cop city.”
Chief Investigator Rick Earle has been following this story for years and has learned that the city council has put in some restrictions.
City council acknowledged that the current training facilities for police, fire and EMS are old and outdated, so they agreed to move forward with the plan, but not without some restrictions.
Those restrictions include a ban on federal law enforcement and any type of police tactical training.
“We’ve plainly spelled this out in four hearings, Pittsburgh doesn’t need or doesn’t want a cop city, and if you’re so weak you can’t do anything, I don’t think you deserve your seat,” said one Pittsburgh resident at a council meeting.
One by one, residents spoke out against a public safety training facility, which could ultimately cost as much as $100 million.
“You want to build a cop city. You keep solving problems we don’t have,” said another resident.
In 2016, 11 Investigates broke the story that the city was working to acquire the old VA hospital in Lincoln-Lemington from the federal government to build a public safety training center.
The city eventually bought the 168-acre site for one dollar, but seven years later, nothing has been done.
Public safety officials from fire and EMS are urging the council to develop the land and arguing that their facilities are too small, outdated and in desperate need of upgrades. That includes City of Pittsburgh Fire Chief Darryl Jones.
“The fire bureau has outgrown the facility on Washington Boulevard,” Jones said. “We are renting two double-wide trailers, just to supplement our classroom space. They are in pretty poor shape.”
After hearing from public safety officials, the council approved a $1.8 million plan to proceed with plans for the design of the public safety training facility for fire EMS and police.
Deputy Mayor Jake Pawlak said the restrictions in that plan will hopefully prevent a “cop city” situation.
“Ensuring that we weren’t building facilities that were used for sort of urban warfare tactical training, but rather genuine public safety training. That we wouldn’t be making designs to colocate with ICE or other federal law enforcement, none of which were in our proposal,” Pawlak said
Pawlak said they also agreed to open parts of the training center to the public in an effort to build community trust and improve transparency.
City council will hold public hearings every step along the way.
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