Penn Hills Mayor Pauline Calabrese Falls Short In Efforts To Oust Police Chief Howard Burton
By: KDKA-TV News Staff
PENN HILLS (KDKA) -- The Mayor of Penn Hills wants the police chief to resign.
But the council did not vote in favor of her effort to remove him from his office.
Mayor Pauline Calabrese and another council member voted to ask for the resignation of Chief Howard Burton.
The three other council members voted no.
This all stems from Chief Burton's hiring and subsequently firing Officer Robert Gowans, who shot and killed Romir Talley.
Gowans was never charged in relation to the shooting.
"As the mayor, I feel that we need to have a new chief," Calabrese told KDKA's Jennifer Borrasso. "His contract is up at the end of the year. I think he should do the right thing and step down now."
Burton has served the Penn Hills Police for 52 years and has been chief for the past 22 years.