Pittsburgh seeks 4,000 extra police officers to help with the Group of 20 meeting

Worried about protests that typically surround the meetings of officials from the world's 20 biggest industrial and emerging economies, Pittsburgh has asked 4,000 officers from across the country to supplement its 900-member police force for the Group of 20 meeting here next month. But the advocacy groups that have been planning to march, form tent cities and demonstrate worry that the heightened security will itself cause a problem. "That's an overreaction, in my view," said Molly Rush, co-founder of the Thomas Merton Center, a social advocacy organization here that is planning a protest march on Sept. 25, the second day of the two-day G-20 meeting. "What could cause a problem isn't the protesters, but an overreaction of security forces." The city has tried to accommodate the protest groups, deciding on Friday to grant six permits for demonstrations and marches after previously saying most of them would be denied.