City seeks community input in search for new police chief
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - The search is on for a new police chief in the city of Pittsburgh.
Former Police Chief Scott Schubert retired in July and now the city is looking for the community's input when it comes to filling his spot.
Starting Monday night, the city will be hosting five Safe Neighborhood Listening Sessions to gauge the public's opinion on who they want to see become the next chief of police. During those sessions, the mayor will also share his vision for a new chief.
Mayor Ed Gainey's press secretary Maria Montaño said the decision impacts not only residents in Pittsburgh but the entire region.
"It doesn't just impact the work that we do," Montaño said. "It impacts everybody who lives here, everybody who works here, everybody who visits here. It impacts the entire region. So it's really important that we don't make the quick decision, but we make the right decision."
Montaño said the city is looking for a candidate who can not only be a leader but a strategic partner who understands the city's role in policing.
"Our model in policing is really centered around the idea of care, contain and solve the root cause," Montaño said. "So the first thing that we do as an administration is make sure that we're doing what we can to care for those departments. So if somebody has been hurt in our city, we want to make sure that they've got the resources and information they need, and the support services they need to heal, make sure that family has access to the support services, making sure that we're doing the work through our GBI teams, to help stop the spread of violence and identifying areas where we can have those interventions in place to stop violence before it spreads," Montaño said.
Montaño said they're taking their search for a new chief nationwide.
Beth Pittinger, the executive director for the Independent Citizen's Police Review Board, said hiring a new chief is an opportunity to rebuild.
"What's most important is that we have someone who is very versatile, very skilled, is aware of and intends to put into practice the contemporary best practices in law enforcement, one who expects excellence from every officer on every call, that the rigors of professionalism are instilled in this person's practice and that there are no politics involved in policing in Pittsburgh," Pittinger said.
She also hopes to see a new chief bring in more support services for police officers.
"We have failed in the sense that we haven't provided those support services to police over the years," Pittinger said. "When they encounter a community problem, a problem an individual is having, that they're not competent nor equipped nor skilled to deal with, such as someone in an emotional or psychiatric crisis, someone who is expressing just a total collapse and dealing with daily life -- and police officers aren't there to do that. They have a caretaking role, there's no question, but they have to be able to access the services necessary to effectively accomplish that role, and then move on."
Pittinger said a new chief also needs to hold officers accountable.
"This has to be a person who's capable of observing his or her officers in the field to recognize where their strengths and weaknesses are in terms of the practice of law enforcement, and make sure that potential chief is able to liaise with the community and effectively garner the support that his or her officers require," Pittinger said.
The Gainey administration will hold five listening sessions over the course of the next two weeks. The first will be held Monday night, Oct. 24 at Carrick High School from 6-8 p.m.
"We want to make sure that we get input directly from the people that we represent and that their voices are heard and that they inform us about what value it is they're looking for, what qualities they want to see in the next chief of police," Montaño said.