Mayor Gainey’s administration supports community forum for next police chief

PITTSBURGH — There are new developments in the effort to appoint acting Pittsburgh police chief Chris Ragland to the role of chief.

11 Investigates has learned that Mayor Ed Gainey’s administration supports the proposed community forum requested by the Pittsburgh Chapter of the NAACP.

Deputy Mayor Jake Pawlak on Monday addressed delays in the confirmation of Acting Chief Chris Ragland.

He said it’s part of the normal process.

“It’s not uncommon. My own confirmation hearing, my own confirmation, a couple years back there was a week or two in between, it was just a matter of scheduling the hearing dates,” said Deputy Mayor Jake Pawlak.

11 Investigates broke the story that the first call for a postponement of the confirmation came from Pittsburgh City Councilman Anthony Coghill.

At a council meeting, Coghill called a public hearing on the next police chief to get input from residents.

Shortly after that, the President of the Pittsburgh NAACP chapter sent a letter to Mayor Ed Gainey and the Pittsburgh City Council, demanding a community forum to question Ragland about his qualifications and his vision for the Police Bureau.

Pawlak said today the administration fully supports a public process.

“There was a request for a community forum... made by the NAACP. We worked with the Council President’s office and the administration agrees that’s a great idea and we will work with council to jointly host an event of that nature,” Pawlak said.

After only 17 months on the job, former Police Chief Larry Scirotto abruptly retired amid a controversy over his return to officiate college basketball.

11 Investigates broke that story last fall.

In light of his hasty departure, the President of the Pittsburgh NAACP, in an interview with 11 Investigates last week, called for more transparency.

“I think there should be an open process, especially because we know the difficulties of the last Chief of Police that left, you know some of the issues that were raised and just making sure City Council and the administration is addressing some of those concerns before bringing on somebody new to the position,” said Pittsburgh NAACP President Daylon Davis.

No dates have been set yet for the public hearing and the community forum.

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