Outgoing Pittsburgh Police Chief Larry Scirotto is talking about retiring to return to basketball refereeing.
In an exclusive interview with Marty Griffin, Scirotto says refereeing basketball games on the side was part of a gentleman's agreement between himself and the mayor.
“My incentive-based contract was . . . if we had a responsible approach to gun violence, if we had a responsible approach to community policing, if we had a responsible approach to recruiting and hiring,” said Scirotto.
Though it wasn't written into his contract, he said he and Mayor Gainey agreed if he reached those goals, he could officiate again.
He denies there was any secrecy about what he was doing, saying it's hard to hide when anyone could see him officiating on the Big Ten Network.
With his time as Pittsburgh police chief coming to an end, Larry Scirotto says he also plans to leave town.
“My partner gets promoted, they are sending us and him out of state,” said Scirotto. “What are we going to do? Live apart for the next year? No, we’re going to follow his dreams as well.”
Scirotto says he’ll be living in Texas.