In keeping with Mayor Bob O'Connor's pledge to streamline the Pittsburgh Police Bureau, acting Chief Earl D. Woodyard Jr. yesterday announced the elimination of three budgeted commanders' positions as a cost-cutting measure. Staffing those positions this year would have cost the city nearly $234,000.

Two watch commander positions have been phased out, and a commander will no longer serve as chief of staff as of Monday. Chief Woodyard left open the possibility that a civilian could take over the chief of staff's duties.

With those moves, the number of budgeted commanders was reduced to nine from 12. Recent retirements will allow the cuts to be made without firing or demoting anyone. The bureau has not been at full strength in commanders for more than a year.

No changes have been announced for the deputy chief or three assistant chiefs.

"The mayor desired to streamline," Chief Woodyard said during a news conference. "We feel that there's no need for 12 commanders."

Commanders earn a salary of $77,927. Eliminating the positions frees up $233,781 a year plus benefits and three vehicles. Those unmarked cars will likely be recycled to the investigations branch for use by detectives.

The relative savings are minuscule. The city's 2006 budget, which was passed but not approved by fiscal overseers, allocated $54 million to the Police Bureau.

But the change allows two lieutenants who have been working as commanders to perform other duties. Lt. Karen Dixon, who has been running the North Side station, will stay there as a supervisor, in line with Mr. O'Connor's philosophy of putting more officers on the street.

The other lieutenant, Scott Schubert, who is in charge of the Squirrel Hill station, will return to police headquarters to oversee the Special Emergency Response Team and act as a liaison to the federal Department of Homeland Security.

The move will save the city a total of about $20,000 a year in pay differentials between salaries for lieutenant and commander.

Chief Woodyard said he spoke with Dominic J. Costa, who takes over Monday as police chief, and said Mr. Costa "was in favor of the moves I was making."

Mr. Costa was commander of the Squirrel Hill station when he was shot during a standoff with an armed man in February 2002. He went on disability with a bullet lodged in his brain and then retired in 2004. In June, he was hired as public safety director in Penn Hills.

"He's been out of the loop for a while," Chief Woodyard said. "He doesn't know the strengths and weaknesses. He doesn't know the moves that were necessary. So he left it up to me."

A handful of residents of Lawrenceville, the Strip District and the Hill District came before City Council yesterday, urging that Cmdr. Paul Donaldson be kept in Zone 2 in the Hill District instead of being moved to Zone 4 in Squirrel Hill.

"This reassignment, in my opinion, shows a total lack of respect for community members who have put themselves in harm's way" to fight crime, said Tony Ceoffe, director of the community group Lawrenceville United.

Hill District resident Yvonne F. Brown said Cmdr. Donaldson successfully brokered an arrangement allowing senior citizens from her neighborhood to use an empty lot across the street from the Zone 2 station as a park.

Councilman Len Bodack, who represents much of the zone, said he will meet with the mayor and ask him to "shed some light" on the transfers.

Mr. O'Connor said he will meet and hear community group concerns. Asked whether any transfers might be reversed, he said, "Well, I don't know."

He said Cmdr. Donaldson's success is part of the reason for the transfer. "If he's doing a very good job, then maybe he needs to be somewhere else."

Chief Woodyard noted that transfers are nothing new. He also said all commanders have the same training and similar experience and should be able to function in any posting. None of the commanders had input into the changes. They were informed Friday afternoon by both e-mail and interoffice mail.

Chief Woodyard said he began pondering changes after former Cmdr. William Joyce announced his retirement at Zone 3 on the South Side.

Cmdr. RaShall Brackney will move from Zone 5 in East Liberty to take over Zone 3. Chief Woodyard said she is a "very good manager" and cited her "excellent" work in Zone 5 as a reason for moving her.

"Maybe she can bring some of her management skills over there," Chief Woodyard said. He said complaints about Cmdr. Brackney by Councilwoman Twanda Carlisle played no role in the move.

The changes will shift Cmdr. Maurita Bryant, the most visible face of the bureau since she took over the major crimes section in January 2001, to narcotics and vice, which is typically a more behind-the-scenes position. Major crimes includes the homicide, burglary, robbery, sex assault and mobile crime squads. Her said her only experience with narcotics was making undercover buys years ago while a plainclothes officer in Zone 5.

Cmdr. Bryant will switch positions with Cmdr. Thomas Stangrecki, who once worked for her as a lieutenant in major crimes.

"I look at my transfer as a new challenge and another opportunity. I love police work, so no matter where I am, I'll do the best job I can do," Cmdr. Bryant said yesterday.

Chief Woodyard spoke highly of both and said he felt it was time they get experience in other areas. Cmdr. Stangrecki has been in charge of narcotics for four months.

Under the new chief, commanders will have more autonomy. Chief Woodyard described them as chiefs of police for their districts and said they will be more responsible for working directly with the community and addressing citizens' complaints.

The elimination of watch commanders -- top supervisors responsible for responding to major incidents after hours -- will not hurt the bureau, Chief Woodyard said. Every commander is already on a weekly rotation to be on call for emergencies.

Cmdr. William Bochter, who was on military leave from August 2004 to December 2005, will return to duty after he completes his retraining. Chief Woodyard could not say what responsibilities he will have.