The Allegheny County Jail lodged half its usual suspects during G-20
The Group of 20 summit looked a lot like Christmas at the Allegheny County Jail. Fewer people went to the Uptown jail during the G-20 week than almost any other week since January 2007, statistics show.
Authorities sent only 204 people to jail from Sept. 21 to 27. About 406 new inmates arrived at the jail during most weeks over the past three years, statistics show. The lack of activity puzzled Warden Ramon C. Rustin, who has run the jail for five years. It left him wondering how closely police monitored other crime during the week.
Only Christmas week last year — when 197 prisoners arrived — drew less business in the past three years. "No matter what's going on Downtown with the G-20, you've got to run your towns," Rustin said.
But police believe the presence of 6,000 cops and National Guardsmen on hand for the summit of world leaders contributed to the drop. "In the end, I think a lot of people chose to stay home," said Carnegie Mellon University police Chief Tom Ogden, president of the Allegheny County Chiefs of Police Association.
Closed roads, patrol cars lining highways to escort heads of state and televised pictures of swarms of officers in riot gear may have intimidated criminals and their would-be victims, Ogden said. "Outside the few places where there were crowd issues, it all stayed really quiet," he said.
Some suburban police chiefs said their contributions to G-20 security didn't hurt their anti-crime efforts. Monroeville sent 13 officers to the G-20, including its chief and assistant chief, but still met daily staffing requirements and didn't compromise its own jurisdiction, Assistant Chief Doug Cole said.
Chiefs in Bethel Park and Robinson said they noticed no significant change in the number of arrests their officers made. Bethel Park increased its manpower that week and helped county and public transit police by patrolling nearby train stops and South Park, said Chief John W. Mackey, president of the Western Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association.
He was surprised the increased police presence didn't result in more arrests. Pittsburgh police prepared to make 1,000 arrests during the G-20. Instead, the G-20 protests resulted in only 194 arrests, which were processed in the state prison in Woods Run rather than the county jail.
Pittsburgh police delayed long-term investigations because of summit duties, said Lt. Thomas Atkins, who oversees the warrant office.
"I'm looking at it from a civilian standpoint: My police service wasn't affected at my home," Atkins said. "If I called 911, I got police service at my home. If there was an accident or something serious, I have no doubt police would have been there and taken appropriate action.
"But I also believe we prioritized what we wanted to accomplish: protect our citizens, protect our property. There are only so many resources, and somebody has to make the decision on how those are utilized."
District Court Administrator Ray Billotte said judges did not mandate any procedural changes for arrests unrelated to the G-20. More judges and court staff showed up to help with an anticipated overflow and were surprised to find it quiet, he said.
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