Private security to supplement cops at South Side festival

By JUSTIN VELLUCCI AND JULIA BURDELSKI
TribLive

Pennsylvania has given $125,000 to the South Side Community Action Network to pay for private security this summer at the South Side Street Fest, an adults-only festival along East Carson Street, one of the city’s main hubs for nightlife, group founder Don Berman told TribLive Tuesday.

The money, which comes from the Department of Community and Economic Development, will fund about 15 private security guards to supplement Pittsburgh police by checking IDs and manning metal detectors at entrances along East Carson on 12th and 18th streets, Berman said.

Between those cross streets, the main corridor in Pittsburgh’s largest entertainment district will close to motor vehicle traffic from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. for the festival, which debuts Saturday, event organizers said.

Officials from the Department of Community and Economic Development did not respond Tuesday to emails or phone calls seeking comment.

Organizers hope the festival — which will feature outdoor food and drinks, as well as wares and activities from about 40 vendors — sets the tone for South Side’s busy summer season and changes public perceptions about a neighborhood long defined by rowdy bar crowds.

They also hope to steer clear of last year’s pitfalls, when the police bureau’s entertainment patrol sometimes faced unruly bar crowds, shootings and at least one chaotic night where revelers threw fireworks at officers.

The entertainment patrol, where a cadre of more than a dozen police officers patrol much of East Carson Street, also has faced its ups and downs since then-police Chief Larry Scirotto launched it about three years ago.

“We have a great neighborhood … and violent behavior is not good for the neighborhood,” Berman said. “It’s not good for the police. It’s not good for the business owners. It’s not good for anybody.”

Taking control

Both Berman and Councilman Bob Charland, D-South Side, defended the move for private security guards to dictate access to a public space.

Organizers maintain the South Side Street Fest is a community taking control of its own business district.

“If we do nothing different, we will get no different results,” Charland said. “This is an attempt to try something new.”

“If there’s tons of police and there’s still bad behavior, you have to change your approach,” Berman added. “You know what they say about insanity. It’s doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.”

John DeMauro owns nine commercial properties in South Side, including Urban Tap, a bar and restaurant on East Carson.

“We want to change expectations and perceptions about what’s really happening on East Carson Street,” DeMauro, a leader in the South Side Hospitality Group, said this week. “People will come down because they feel it’s safe. But they’ll stay because it’s fun.”

South Side stakeholders are facing an uptick in crime right now. Aggravated assaults have surged 25% year over year in the neighborhood, from Jan. 1 through June 8, police data show. Burglaries have gone up. So have reports about sex offenses and car thefts.

Typically, certain crimes — especially assaults and thefts — go up in many Pittsburgh neighborhoods when schools and colleges let out for the summer.

Crime climbed during the hottest months last year in South Side Flats, which is centered on East Carson Street. Reported crime in July last year was roughly double what it was in February.

After Saturday’s kickoff, the festival, which is open only to those ages 21 and up, will be staged Friday and Saturday nights through Sept. 15.