Baldwin Township Police Department

412-341-5937
Emergencies Dial 911

Juvenile Pedestrial Safety

During the school year, residents should be aware of the increase in juvenile pedestrian traffic to and from school buses in the morning and afternoon, and obey all traffic laws relating to the school bus stops.

Section 3345 of the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code requires that all vehicles meeting a school bus with red lights flashing are to stop until the red lights are no longer flashing and the children have reached a place of safety. Penalties are a $250.00 fine, 5 points assessed on your driver’s license and a mandatory 60 day license suspension.

When in doubt, the best action is to stop and wait until all children are in a place of safety and the school bus red lights are off. If you witness a vehicle passing a school bus, please call the Police Department at 412-341-5937.

Residence Safety

• Lock all doors at night and every time you leave your home – even if it is just for a few minutes.
• Make sure every outside door has a bright, working light to illuminate visitors for identification before opening the door.
• Turn outdoor lights on in the evening – whether someone is at home or not. Motion activated lights are great tools for this purpose.
• Make sure your home inventory is up-to-date and includes serial numbers, descriptions and photographs of your valuables. Many computer programs are available now to make this task easier. You can then store the entire inventory on a small removable hard drive and keep it in a safety deposit box or off-site location if needed.
• If the residence is vacant or for sale, make sure to alert neighbors so they can monitor it for any suspicious activities.

Vehicle Safety

• Never leave your car running or the keys in the vehicle, even for just a minute.
• Always roll up your windows and lock the doors, even if it is front of your home. Most vehicle thefts that have occurred in the South Hills have been committed by roaming bands of juveniles walking down residential streets, trying car doors to find doors unlocked and gain easy entry. They then take whatever is in plain view: phones, wallets, GPS units, IPods, loose change, laptops, etc.
• Work trucks with bed tool boxes have recently been high-priority targets. Thieves target work trucks with unlocked bed tool boxes and steal very expensive power and hand tools to pawn or sell to anyone who will buy them. Please lock your bed tool boxes. Keep good inventories of your tools with model and serial number information so they can be tracked and possibly recovered.
• Carry the vehicle registration and insurance card with you. Don’t leave personal identification documents or credit cards in your vehicle.

The Cost of Graffiti

Graffiti costs American communities more than $8 billion dollars per year. It is unsightly, hurts property values, drives away new business, and sends the message that nobody cares about the community.

Graffiti is every resident’s problem. Here is what you can do to help:

• If you seen graffiti in progress, report it by calling 911 – don’t try to intervene yourself.
• Report graffiti immediately! The sooner it is reported, the sooner it can be removed. Prompt, persistent removal usually results in a nearly zero rate of recurrence. Police can then step up patrols of the area to deter further vandalism.
• If you find newly-created graffiti in your area, contact police so they can photograph it for evidence purposes before it is removed. Photographs of the graffiti may provide information that will lead to identification of the vandals and their eventual arrest.
• Please keep in mind that while graffiti itself can be a costly crime, more serious secondary crimes such as other forms of property damage, burglary and theft often occur at the sites of graffiti. Vandals often feel empowered when they graffiti and no one reports it to police. This then builds up their confidence to commit the more serious secondary crimes indicated above.
• Graffiti usually occurs in areas concealed from the street and out of sight of routine police patrols. If you observe juveniles walking on paths in the wooded areas of the Township, groups of juveniles congregating in areas of closed buildings or vacant homes, or juveniles carrying back packs or duffel bags when school is out of session, call 911 and report these suspicious circumstances to police.

Let’s continue to work together to keep Baldwin Township clean and safe!