Cops and robbers

Good for Mark DeSantis for leaving Downtown to talk about a good bread-and-butter issue in the neighborhoods. (Thanks to the Pittsburgh Comet.) And why am I not convinced that we really need to spend more than a half-million dollars to re-open the West End police station?:

Reopening the station in January won't carry a high cost, said Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, because the building is already operating as a station for motorcycle, traffic and bicycle officers.

Yet, Deputy Police Chief Paul Donaldson said the station will require seven new sergeants, two detectives and one crime analyst. Those salaries total $564,560, but the cost and additions won't necessarily improve police response times even though it's the main complaint from West End residents who have lobbied for the station's return. ...

Statistics show overall crime in the West End did not increase after the station closed in 2003, and there's some evidence that suggests cities both larger and smaller than Pittsburgh can function with fewer stations. Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Lexington, Ky., Raleigh and Tampa have fewer police zone stations per capita compared to Pittsburgh.