The Public Safety Task Force exists to develop and build relationships that promote equity and justice while providing for the safety and protection of life and property. We’re committed to developing relationships both inside and outside of our task force that encourage mutual respect for each other.
We have been working with representatives of the police to address racism, reduce violence, and increase equity in how police resources are used for the protection of our communities.
Carol Ballance
4th Thursday of every month, 7:00pm-8:30pm, Wesley AME Zion Church
(Check the calendar for changes)
PIIN is proud to join over 25 Pittsburgh neighborhood, environmental, and justice organizations in supporting the Pittsburgh 100 Days Transit Platform developed by Pittsburghers for Public Transit (PPT). When Margaret Krauss of WESA-FM sought to interview the organizations supporting the plan, she specifically asked Laura Chu Wiens, PPT’s Executive Director, to interview a representative of [...]
Dr. David Harris On July 26, 2020, David Harris gave a sobering presentation, looking backward and forward into the future, pondering the challenges of Public Safety in our time. We hope you were able to join, but if you missed it or would like to watch it again, you can see the recording of the [...]
The Allegheny County Council is set to consider establishing a Countywide Citizens Police Review Board, PIIN invites you to join us and members of County Council for an important conversation and opportunity to share your input. We need a police review board to establish accountability. Transparency and accountability are critical to advancing 21st century policing [...]
Residents and activists on Wednesday decried a recent incident of racist graffiti at a Swissvale transit parklet and demanded a stronger response from the borough government. The group of eight that held a press conference outside of the Swissvale council meeting said they were “troubled” by graffiti on a garbage can in early November that [...]
Clergy, Spiritual Leaders and other leaders in PIIN, Once again, this world finds itself responding to another senseless mass shooting that took place in a house of worship. The hatred in this country and in the world has once again risen to a level that the infringement upon the sacred is not even questioned. Where [...]
The Public Safety Task Force of the Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network (of which I am a member) has been working to ensure violent confrontations between the police and residents of this city are things of the past. A hopeful sign has been a move by the Pittsburgh police department to add new modules to the training and retraining of its officers. The modules are: “Procedural Justice,” “Implicit Bias” and “Racial Reconciliation.” The first two have been implemented and the third is soon to follow.
ALCOSAN is under a federal mandate to overhaul our region’s sewer system to reduce the discharge of sewage into our rivers. PIIN has worked with the Clean Rivers Campaign to urge a green-first approach to solving this problem.
We have also taken the lead to ensure that ratepayers — especially low-income residents — aren’t stuck with water bills they can’t afford to pay. As an Our Water Campaign coalition partner, we are also on the front lines of advocating for safe, affordable, publicly controlled water in Pittsburgh.
TBA
Pittsburgh residents have long recognized the need to fix the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA) to ensure that every family in our city has access to safe, affordable drinking water. We’ve already seen what happens when private corporations like Paris-based company, Veolia, come to our city and take over our public assets. Pittsburgh cannot [...]
Last Friday, PIIN, alongside dozens of members of the newly formed Our Water Campaign, called upon the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA) to improve water quality and service at the monthly PWSA board meeting. The Our Water Campaign was formed in response to widespread public health concerns stemming from last month’s boil water advisory [...]
On December 1st, PIIN and The Clean Rivers Campaign co-hosted a presentation of the city of Pittsburgh’s “Clean and Green” plan to solve flooding issues and stop the pollution of waterways every time it rains. The plan was released earlier that morning and is available in draft form for public commentary.
At a public meeting Tuesday, officials from Tulsa, Okla. and Indianapolis, Ind. talked about the dramatic changes their city made to the provision of water and sewer services. They presented to a mayoral panel tasked with deciding how best to address the systemic challenges facing Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA): crumbling infrastructure and lead issues [...]
The residents of Four Mile Run, an isolated neighborhood on the edge of Greenfield, have wanted one thing for a very long time: a major sewage infrastructure project to alleviate its flooding problems. The neighborhood nestled in a valley south of Oakland consistently sees flooding in heavy rains, including the overflowing of Saline Street in September 2016.
Residents asked questions about the effects of lead poisoning, the cost of lead line replacement and the responsibilities of local landlords at a panel discussion about water issues Tuesday night. The standing room-only event, dubbed “Not Another Flint,” drew more than 100 people to the Kingsley Association in Larimer. It was hosted by the Our [...]
