Pittsburgh's new Zone 3 police station in Allentown officially opened its doors to the public yesterday, with dozens of neighborhood residents taking tours of the four-story structure that was once a youth hostel.

The public soon may have even more access to the station -- police Chief Nate Harper said Zone 3 likely will be the first station to turn its desk officer position over to a civilian employee.

Eventually, Chief Harper hopes to replace desk officers with civilians at each of the city's six police stations, freeing up six more officers to patrol the streets on each shift.

"Zone 3 will be the first, hopefully by the end of the year," he said after yesterday's ceremony in the refurbished building at Arlington and Warrington avenues.

The Police Bureau's command staff is still in the early stages of planning the change. As many as 11 other positions eventually may shift from officers to civilians, according to Assistant Police Chief Regina McDonald.

She said Mayor Luke Ravenstahl has asked the bureau to find ways to put more officers on patrol.

Desk officers usually handle phone calls and take reports from people who walk in off the street, but civilians could be trained to handle many of the duties.

But there are risks, said Officer Daniel O'Hara, president of the Pittsburgh Fraternal Order of Police. He expressed concern about potential crime suspects entering the station when no officers are there.

He said all stations need secure doors that can be opened only from inside.

"We certainly understand there's a need to control costs," Officer O'Hara said. "But you can't implement anything unless it's safe for the public and the worker."

Officers still would have to be on hand to take statements from victims of assaults and other serious crimes.

Also, civilians wouldn't have access to all computer databases, said Cmdr. Linda Barone, of the support services and computer operations unit.

She said some jobs already have been given to civilian employees, including a few telephone positions at the Municipal Courts Building, Downtown.

Zone 3 Cmdr. Catherine McNeilly said she also was supportive of hiring civilians for desk jobs in the zones, but she said she would prefer to see retired police officers get the posts.

"I'd be a big proponent of that," she said. "They already know what to do."

But state law prohibits former officers from coming back to work for the bureau because of complications with pension payments.

Officer O'Hara said it was unlikely that the state Legislature would make changes to the law in the near future.