PITTSBURGH Financial woes force city to close 2 police stations

The mayor is negotiating with the union to hold layoffs to a minimum.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The city's police chief announced Monday that he will shutter two stations and reorganize patrol areas as Pittsburgh continues to struggle out of the red.
Police Chief Robert McNeilly Jr. said the West End police station will close Aug. 29 and the special deployment division, which includes the SWAT and traffic officers, will eventually be closed.
McNeilly said it makes sense to shut down the stations in light of Pittsburgh's financial woes. This month Mayor Tom Murphy released 731 city workers -- nearly 17 percent of Pittsburgh's work force -- to help close a $60 million budget shortfall.
Murphy previously said the layoff would include more than 100 officers, but he is currently negotiating with the union.
McNeilly said patrol of the city's western neighborhoods will be handled by the South Side station while the Squirrel Hill station take on some of that station's burden by patroling the city's southeast corner, such as Hays and Lincoln Place.
Officers from the special deployment division will be sent to the five remaining zone stations when their Strip District office is shut down, McNeilly said.
Reaction
Gene Grattan, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, says the reorganization will definitely have an impact on residents.
Also Monday, dozens of people, including children, gathered outside the City-County Building to protest Murphy's closing of 26 of 32 city swimming pools and all of the city's 19 recreation centers. Some held signs and others chanted "Save our Parks."
Jim Roddey, the Allegheny County chief executive, has said the county will honor all city pool passes for the rest of the summer.