Monday, July 23, 2007
By Bill Schackner, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

He carries no gun and wears a T-shirt with the words “Point Park University” stamped on it in big green letters.

Even so, Downtown visitors sometimes mistake Ted Nelson for a Pittsburgh police officer riding a bike — not that he minds. After all, the idea behind the university’s new unarmed bicycle patrols is to give people in a several-block area that includes the university one more reason to feel secure.

If nothing else, the four Point Park guards who staff the dawn-to-dusk patrols are learning how many people arrive in the city’s commercial core needing directions, and, even more curious, how many will seek restaurant advice from a perfect stranger.

“They’ll ask, ‘Where’s Macy’s? Where’s the county courthouse? Where’s the Greyhound station?” said Mr. Nelson, 46, a pair of sunglasses flipped up on his forehead as he spoke about the program that began in mid-June.

Pedal power is not exactly a new concept in campus safety. Other schools, including the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University and Duquesne University, have their own bike patrols staffed by fully sworn police officers.

The Point Park patrols, however, are debuting as the city mounts a push to promote Downtown living. The bike route, staffed by one guard per shift, happens to pass directly in front of a high-rise condo project under construction along Wood Street.

The Point Park guards are not law enforcement officers and do not have arrest powers. Their purpose is to monitor the area, assist the public when they can and notify city police if they spot an emergency or a crime.

The guards carry two-way radios linking them to the school’s security office.

So far, says Mr. Nelson, he’s encountered nothing more serious than a burglarized car and panhandlers.

Officers on bikes can cover ground faster than guards on foot and make sense for a school that has grown in recent years with building acquisitions between Forbes Avenue and Fort Pitt Boulevard, said Jim Dyer, Point Park’s director of campus security.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said the patrols are another set of eyes in a part of the Downtown the city is trying to improve. They represent a continued effort by the city to work with campus safety officials.

“To have that relationship with Point Park …. is good news,” he said.

Mr. Nelson, who said he wasn’t much of a biker before the patrols began, now averages seven to 10 miles daily. In between stops to offer assistance or check on campus buildings, he pedals his university-issued mountain bike in an area that includes Fort Pitt Boulevard, Wood Street, Fourth Avenue, Forbes Avenue, Third Avenue and across PPG Plaza.

“No blisters, but I’ve lost 15 pounds,” he said with a grin. “I did have a little discomfort for the first three or four days.”

City police bike officers trained the Point Park guards in how to maneuver safely through a major city’s downtown traffic. Mr. Nelson said he learned not to ride on grates, how to make quick stops and that buses with their engines in the back can be especially hard to hear while pedaling.

As for getting around in morning traffic, he said smiling, it’s been “a mostly humbling experience.”

Staff writer Rich Lord contributed to this report. Bill Schackner can be reached at bschackner@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1977.