Another Pittsburgh police chief resigns; 11 Investigates looks at how we got here

PITTSBURGH — In the last three years, Pittsburgh police have seen four interim or permanent police chiefs. With Acting Chief Chris Ragland’s resignation on Tuesday, a fifth will now take the reins.

Longtime Pittsburgh police officer and Chief Scott Schubert retired in July 2022. Tom Stangrecki stepped in as acting chief until June 2023.

A nationwide search yielded Larry Scirotto, who was sworn in as chief in June 2023. Scirotto served approximately a year and a half, announcing his resignation late October 2024, in the middle of a controversy.

Ragland started his tenure as acting chief in November 2024 and served until he submitted his resignation four months later.

11 Investigates uncovered in the fall that Chief Scirotto had returned to refereeing college basketball, a job he promised to drop when he got the chief job. Council members expressed frustration that they were unaware of a deal Mayor Ed Gainey made with Scirotto, saying he could referee up to 65 games after reaching certain benchmarks pertaining to crime.

“It was really under false pretense that we hired him. Little did we know about the backdoor deal with Mayor Gainey,” City Councilman Anthony Coghill said at the time.

Acting Chief Chris Ragland inherited a department with lower violent crime statistics but severely short-staffed.

Last month, Gainey announced he was nominating Ragland to be the department’s next permanent chief. But within a matter of days, the NAACP called for public hearings first. Under new rules, council also planned to interview Ragland under Oath, prior to voting on a confirmation.

Just two weeks ago, Ragland said he was looking forward to those community forums. In a news conference, Gainey doubled down on backing him.

“Ragland, you want this job?” Gainey asked. “I do,” Ragland said.

“He wants this job. Did you do the downtown plan?” Gainey asked. “I did,” Ragland said.

In that same news conference, Gainey told Chief Investigator Rick Earle that Ragland should be thanked for his work.

“He also has the record of why he’s done a fine job for the city of Pittsburgh and for that, Rick, you should say thank you. Say thank you, Rick,” Gainey said. “Can you say thank you?”

Less than two weeks later, there’s another shakeup.

“And above all, I want to thank the residents of this great city for the privilege of serving over the last 31 years,” Ragland said. “Serving as your acting chief for the past four months has been one of the greatest honors of my career.”

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