Community Crime Watch Programs Get Boost From Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile Donation

Community Crime Watch Programs Get Boost From Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile Donation

18 de juniode 1997

PITTSBURGH, PA -- Local community safety efforts got a boost recently
when Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile donated 18 cellular phones and free
airtime for emergency service to the Pittsburgh Zone 4 Public Safety
Council.

The donation is part of Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile's participation in
a national program entitled "Communities on Phone Patrol" (COPP),
where free phones and airtime are given to citizen neighborhood watch
groups.

Florian Zwitch, president of the Pittsburgh Zone 4 Public Safety
Council and the West End/Elliott Citizens Council, accepted the phones
and said the donation will support their efforts tremendously.

"These phones will give our volunteers an immediate link to emergency
services when they are on patrol," Zwitch said. "They will be very
instrumental in helping to eliminate problems in our neighborhoods."

Zwitch said the communities within the Zone 4 Public Safety Council
will celebrate this donation along with other community safety
programs at a "Safety in Our Hometown" fair scheduled for June 20 from
5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the 800 block of Lorenz Avenue in Elliott. The
cellular phones will be given to the neighborhood watch group leaders
at that time.

"We are strongly committed to putting our wireless technology to work
to enhance safety in the communities we serve," said Jerry Fountain,
regional vice president for Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile. "With this
donation, we support a group of citizens who are working to improve
their own neighborhoods."

The Pittsburgh Zone 4 Public Safety Council covers 18 communities in
the West End and South Hills sections of the City of Pittsburgh,
including West End, Windgap, Westwood, Sheraden, Mt. Washington,
Duquesne Heights, Crafton Heights, Chartiers City, Brookline,
Beechview, Banksville, Oakwood, Overbrook, Elliott, Esplen, Fairywood,
East Carnegie and Ridgemont.

The COPP program was established last year by the Cellular
Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) Foundation, which works
in conjunction with the Community Policing Consortium to review
requests for equipment and coordinate the donations.

Community crime watch groups interested in this program can obtain
more information or an application for requesting equipment by
contacting the Community Policing Consortium, 1726 M St., NW, Suite
801, Washington, DC; phone number 800-833-3085; or on the Internet at
www.communitypolicing.org.

Editor's Note:
Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile, the largest wireless
service provider on the East Coast, has its Pittsburgh Regional
headquarters in McCandless Township with a 24-hour-a-day Customer
Service Department. The company has 18 retail locations throughout
the region.

For more information about the "Safety in Our Hometown" fair, contact
Florian Zwitch at 418-4673.