Pittsburgh’s Citizen Police Review Board appears poised to receive the smallest annual number of complaints about city officers in the agency’s history, according to its executive director.
CPRB executive director Beth Pittinger told City Council Tuesday that Pittsburgh Police respond to more than 300,000 calls per year. From all of those calls, she said, “only 220 individuals came forward to us” with complaints in 2022.
The year is not entirely over, and Pittinger cautioned that residents could be registering complaints elsewhere. But 220 complaints, she reiterated, "is a very small amount.”
Pittinger provided the statistics during her agency’s budget hearing Tuesday.
The numbers continue a years-long decline. According to the CPRB, there were 227 complaints in 2021; 286 in 2020; 253 in 2019 and 273 in 2018.
Pittinger testified that the majority of complaints this year have concerned accusations of unbecoming police demeanor and attitude. She noted that, too, marks a change: in previous years, the board received more allegations about excessive force or unlawful activity.
“We've seen the nature of the complaints change," she said, with allegations becoming "less serious than the kinds of the complaints we've received in the past."
But Pittinger cautioned that complaints about rude or discourteous behavior from police can still point to a larger issue within the city’s ranks. The complaints "can be indicative of systemic issues," she said. "And that’s what our board has always focused on: the bigger picture here.”
The CPRB held its monthly meeting Tuesday evening and dedicated a portion of it to speaking with residents "who were offended by an officer’s language, temper, perceived discourtesy or incivility" or refusal to identify themselves. Pittinger told council members earlier Tuesday that most of the invited speakers have complaints that have already been investigated by the board, but others will be encouraged to report their experiences.
Pittinger said that the CPRB board will consider whether the issues discussed Tuesday evening are “isolated incidents or if there may be some underlying training deficiency or something that could be done to enhance the demeanor" of officers.
The agency will eventually issue a report about the complaints.
During the afternoon budget hearing, Pittinger restated her opposition to Mayor Ed Gainey’s decision to relax some education requirements for Pittsburgh Police officers. Pittinger contended that higher education requirements allow officers to mature and gain more life experience before putting on the badge.
But she also praised the police bureau for developing a more cooperative relationship with the review board in recent years. She said when CPRB recommends a change, “those recommendations are received respectfully and where they can implement, they do.”
CPRB recently opened an inquiry into how the bureau prepares officers for promotion. Pittinger said that it’s been nearly a month since the agency asked police for documents that lay out what training officers receive before they are promoted to sergeant, lieutenant or commander. Though she expressed concern that the material hadn't been provided, she said such delays are “incidental."
“I think there’s a lot of chaos in that organization right now,” she said of the bureau, pointing to a well-documented staffing shortage and a vacant police chief position.
CPRB also opened an investigation last month into the lack of police presence at a funeral in Brighton Heights in October. Two shooters wounded five people at the funeral, causing a skirmish that injured a sixth person. The funeral was for a man killed in an earlier shootout.
Pittsburgh officials have reported that a police presence was requested at the funeral, but no officers were present. Pittinger said officers were obligated to be there because of the risk. A McKees Rocks man and a Pittsburgh boy are facing aggravated assault and weapons charges in connection with the shooting.
