Pittsburgh City Council again held off voting on a bill that would regulate pedestrian stops by police Wednesday. That delay — the eighth such pause since the bill was proposed — means council will not take action on the bill until after their summer recess ends in mid-August.
If it passes, the bill would require police officers to document their reasoning for stopping a pedestrian before doing so. The measure was proposed as a strategy to confront inequities in policing that disproportionately affect people of color. Research has found that such stops, sometimes referred to as "stop-and-frisk," more frequently involve Black and Latin residents than their white counterparts.
The bill was first introduced in January and received preliminary approval last month.
Councilor Ricky Burgess, who sponsored the bill with Councilor Bruce Kraus, said that members met Tuesday with public safety officials, activists and legal experts to discuss changes. He said they are close to a consensus.
According to Burgess, police are working to update software to enable them to produce the required reports. He said members will continue to work with police and activists, including the Alliance for Police Accountability, “to pass a stronger bill that has wider community support.”
Councilor Anthony Coghill said Wednesday he hesitates to support a bill in which council decides policy for the Bureau of Police. “It should come from the mayor’s office” which oversees the bureau, he argued. Coghill said officials should keep in mind the importance of retaining officers currently on the force.
“We need to make sure we’re not losing them to these agencies that are just hiring them away," he said. "[It’s] easy pickings for them I’ll tell you. I would like to make sure this council focuses on that.”
Councilor Erika Strassburger said Wednesday that in addition to passing the legislation, council should investigate police activity to ensure new policies gain the intended result.
“We can pass all the bills we want,” she said. “But unless they are applied appropriately and we’re setting up a system to hold ourselves and our city ac... countable to the bills that we pass in perpetuity, they’re not… going to do what we intend them to do.”
Councilor Daniel Lavelle expressed confidence in the city’s ability to hold police accountable to any new edicts. He said Mayor Ed Gainey’s “Pittsburgh Plan for Peace” drew a roadmap to connect various police reform efforts undertaken in Pittsburgh over the last few years.
“Now we have an administration that’s willing to fully fund them,” he said. “And make all the various initiatives work together and talk to one another. So I think we’ll be able to see the impact.”
City Council will next discuss the bill when members return from their recess, which runs from July 20 until August 19.
Council also held off on hold three pieces of legislation aimed at protecting reproductive freedoms. Councilor Bobby Wilson, who introduced the bills last week, said he intends to work with the city’s law department on the language of the legislation. The bills will be held one week to allow that work to continue.
