2011 Annual Report final - City of Pittsburgh

54Special Deployment Division: The Special Deployment Division (SDD) consists of support units thatprovide specially trained and equipped officers to handle a variety of assignments and tasks throughoutthe City. SDD has the following disciplines: Traffic Division, Collision Investigation Unit, CommercialMotor Vehicle Enforcement Unit, SWAT, River Rescue, Impaired Driving Unit (which includes theDUI Task Force and Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) programs), Car Seat Inspection and EducationStation, Tow Pound Unit, and the Graffiti Task Force. In addition to the normal duties, SDD is alsoresponsible for coordinating over $500,000 dollars in highway safety related grants that provideadditional enforcement activities throughout the City of Pittsburgh. These grants allow the PBP to useenforcement and education to help reduce crashes and fatalities on our roadways that are the result ofunsafe commercial vehicles and impaired and aggressive drivers.Motorcycle Unit: The year 2011 started with twenty-nine officers assigned to motorcycle duties andended with twenty-five due to transfers, promotions and retirements. Of the twenty-five, there wasone lieutenant, four sergeants, and twenty police officers.The primary duties of the motorcycle officers are traffic enforcement and the management of major civicevents. The a.m. shift officers are assigned to both the downtown area for morning rush hour, and to schoolzones for speed enforcements. The split shift officers are assigned to speed enforcement, followed byafternoon rush hour and then once again to speed enforcement. While not detailed to enforcement, allmotorcycle officers are assigned to zone patrols. Areas for speed enforcement and school zone enforcementare directed by complaints. All complaints received thru the 311 system, zone commanders, communitymeetings, city council requests or any other source are responded to.Motorcycle officers are assigned to all major events within the city. Games and concerts at Heinz Field, PNCPark, and the Consol Energy Center are staffed with motorcycle officers. Officers work the traffic take andbreak of the event, and then provide patrols in the area during the time of the event. Officers manned parades,festivals, and community public safety events. Motorcycle officers provided escorts for all dignitaries thatvisited the city. Officers provided funeral escorts for all retired officers who passed away as well as for thefamily members of other police officers upon request. Motorcycle officers also assist other units by backfilling vacancies.Traffic Control and Enforcement Conducted by the Motorcycle UnitParkers Movers Traffic Stops Tows Calls5,295 11,925 11,724 1,956 17,519Commercial Motor Vehicle Enforcement Unit: The primary function of the Commercial Motor VehicleEnforcement Unit is to ensure that all drivers and commercial motor vehicles being operated on theroadways are in compliance with all safety regulations set forth by the Federal Motor Carrier SafetyAdministration (F.M.C.S.A.) as well as all state and local laws. Inspectors conduct roving patrols andstationary checkpoints throughout the City of Pittsburgh and also assist state and other local agenciesupon the request. Additionally, a (MCSAP) inspection is required on all commercial motor vehicles thatare involved in a fatal collision. The unit currently has 11 (MCSAP) inspectors. Of the 11 inspectors, 5 aretrained general hazardous materials inspectors and 9 are certified motor coach inspectors.In 2011, the unit completed 163 checkpoints, 1,553 commercial vehicle inspections and 59 aggressive drivingdetails (resulting in 531 vehicle stops).Collision Investigation Unit: The Collision Investigations Unit consists of 10 traffic officers and 1 sergeantwho are responsible for investigating all collisions that involve fatalities and/or critical injuries. Officers alsorespond to and investigate all reportable crashes involving a city police vehicle. In 2011, fifty-seven collisions