By Rich Lord
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh police accused of family abuse will get more scrutiny, face discipline and sometimes see their guns seized under legislation approved by City Council and signed by Mayor Luke Ravenstahl yesterday.
The 10-page ordinance and a seven-page police policy now enshrined into law replace the ad hoc system in place in June, after three officers accused of family abuse were promoted, inciting women’s advocates to anger and council to action.
Council President Doug Shields, who shepherded it through to passage, summed up the ordinance. “You don’t hit people. You be nice to people. And if you need help, go get help.”
“We feel very victorious,” said Shirl Regan, executive director of the Women’s Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh.
“We’re not done yet,” she added, since advocates need to monitor implementation, and perhaps expand the policy to other city bureaus, suburban municipalities and Allegheny County.
Fraternal Order of Police President James Malloy called the effort “a witch hunt against police officers,” saying just a tiny fraction of domestic abuse cases involve police.
The legislation bars the hiring of police candidates with histories of violence and the promotion of those subject to active domestic abuse criminal cases or protection-from-abuse orders, known as PFAs.
It requires reporting up the chain of command whenever a supervisor notes “a pattern of abusive behavior” in an officer. The officer must then undergo a psychological exam and counseling, and the chief of police can mete out discipline if warranted.
When a 911 call comes in alleging abuse by an officer, a police supervisor must go to the scene. If the officer is arrested, his service weapon is confiscated, he may be reassigned, and intensive monitoring starts.
The latest officer arrested for family abuse, Detective Bradley Walker, saw his weapon seized and was reassigned to paperwork detail in the warrants office.
An officer found guilty in criminal court gets fired, as federal law demands.
Whether or not an arrest occurs, the chief must ask the Office of Municipal Investigations to conduct a review, and a new, internal Police Bureau Domestic Violence Review Board meets to discuss the incident. The chief can apply unspecified discipline based on the internal investigation, even if there is no arrest or conviction.
The chief also decides whether the officer can carry a service weapon during that time, unless a court-issued PFA rules on that issue.
Two amendments Councilman William Peduto made last Wednesday were removed. One would have compelled the bureau to confiscate the accused officer’s gun even if no arrest is made. The other required that reports of police domestic abuse be provided to the independent Citizens Police Review Board.
That board’s executive director, Elizabeth Pittinger, said she believes existing law requires the handing over of such reports, and if they’re not provided voluntarily, she can subpoena them. “We think there’s too much discretion left in [the ordinance], but it’s a good start,” she said.
Mr. Ravenstahl in June promised “a zero-tolerance policy” on domestic violence throughout the city work force and said yesterday that the city had achieved that for the Police Bureau.
“It was important for us to deal with and look at this issue in the Police Bureau first,” he said, pledging to look at “the appropriate next steps.”
Copyright 2007 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette