PITTSBURGH (Newsradio 1020 KDKA - Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto is calling for immediate reforms to the Pittsburgh Police Department after recent clashes with protesters in the city.
During a news conference on Thursday, the mayor's Chief of Staff Dan Gilman announced the city is fulling endorsing the 8 Can't Wait campaign.
The campaign is a project by Campaign Zero. The organization claims implementing the following eight polices can decrease police violence by 72 percent.
Those actions are:
- Requires officers to de-escalate situations, when possible, before using force.
- Have a Force Continuum or Matrix included in their use of force policy, defining the types of force/weapons that can be used to respond to specific types of resistance.
- Explicitly prohibit chokeholds and strangleholds (including carotid restraints) or limit these tactics to situations where deadly force is authorized.
- Requires officers to give a verbal warning, when possible, before using deadly force.
- Prohibits officers from shooting at people in moving vehicles unless the person poses a deadly threat by means other than the vehicle (for example, shooting at people from the vehicle).
- Requires officers to exhaust all other reasonable alternatives before resorting to using deadly force.
- Requires officers to intervene to stop another officer from using excessive force.
- Requires officers to report all uses of force including threatening another civilian with a firearm.
The city says many of those implementations have already gone into effect.
Peduto says while the city needs to make changes, legislation in Harrisburg must also be passed.
Peduto also renewed his endorsement of use-of-force legislation that was introduced by PA State Representatives Summer Lee and Ed Gainy.
The legislation would eliminate the use of deadly force during an arrest and would only be used when there are imminent threats of harm.
The mayor also endorsed the State Legislature Police Reform Working Group's state of recommendations.
The reforms including outlaw the "use of choke-holds, establishing an independent review process of any police encounter that results in serious injury or death, and naming an inspector general to systematically review police policies and behaviors to preemptively prevent police misconduct."
Peduto also wants Pittsburgh and all other police across the state to go through annual implicit bias and de-escalation training.
Pittsburgh Police already receive this training but it will now be more regularly.
Peduto also wants local governments to have more control of its police forces.
Under law, city leaders can currently fire or discipline officers for misbehavior but can then be overturned by an arbitrator.
Further reforms the mayor is calling for include:
- Amending Act 111 to limit the scope of bargaining over disciplinary procedures or specifically limit a labor arbitrator's authority to modify disciplinary penalties
- Amending Act 111 to adopt the "public policy exception," which would enable cities to challenge an arbitrator's decision to return an officer to work on the basis that their continued employment is adverse to the public interest
- Amending the Confidence in Law Enforcement Act to expand the circumstances under which employers are required to terminate officers engaged in misconduct
- Giving the Municipal Police Officers' Education and Training Commission (MPOETC) more authority to revoke certifications from officers, or the ability to review use-of-force complaints to suspend or revoke certifications
During the news conference Peduto announced he signed former President Obama's My Brother's Keeper Alliance Pledge:
- REVIEW the police use of force policies in my community 2. ENGAGE my community by including a diverse range of input, experiences, and stories in our review 3. REPORT the findings of our review to my community and seek feedback within 90 days of signing this pledge 4. REFORM my community's police use of force policies based on findings
Also, the city is looking into the issues of "compassion fatigue" in officers and will "begin exploring "the mandatory rotating of staff work assignments that could help to lessen the impact of long-term, high-stress assignments."
"These are critical steps we must take and we must take now. We must work to build trust between police and all they serve. We must undo the systems that have caused pain, suffering, and loss of life in communities of color. This is a first step, we must strive everyday to do better," Mayor Peduto said.
Peduto also said he does not plan on issuing a decent decree regarding the Pittsburgh Police
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