Mayor Ed Gainey hears from community members in search for new police chief
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey heard from community members on what qualities they want the next police chief to have.
Monday's meeting at Carrick High School was the first of five public meetings as the city searches for a new police chief. Former Police Chief Scott Schubert retired in July.
"I want a new chief to be from the city of Pittsburgh," Bon Air resident Ken Koczrzat said. "I don't want someone from Chicago or Los Angeles to come here and not know a thing when I feel that we have police officers in the city that could possibly fill that role just like Chief Schubert was."
Since Schubert retired in July, the city has been working to fill the position in a nationwide search. They are looking for someone who can not only be a leader in Pittsburgh, but who can make a change and find the root of the problem when it comes to policing and violence in the city.
The mayor wants the new chief to recognize what the community's needs are and how to meet those needs.
"We want to be able to know the police chief, we want to have a relationship," Gainey said. "You heard me say the next police chief got to look at how I look at the mayor's office. My job is not to be behind this desk. My job is to be out in these communities and neighborhoods. I want that chief to have that same spirit."
"We want our police chief to have a diverse background, one that would be open to a lot of relationships across racial borders, Black, white, indifferent," said Tayveon Kuvin Smith, a Baldwin-Whitehall resident. "We want a police chief to be able to listen to us, to be able to address the issues that we have as far as all of the gun violence going around here."
The timeline to hire someone is December, hopefully. Mayor Gainey told the crowd on Monday that the department is looking to hire more police officers. Robert Swartzwelder, the FOP president, said he agrees with the move to hire more officers.
The next meeting is Wednesday at PPG Paints Arena.
