Pennsylvania State Rep. Ed Gainey marching through Homewood protesting against violence in the community on Saturday, June 13. (Photo by Nick Childers/PublicSource)
by Rich Lord
Pittsburgh’s mayor, who last year faced heat for his handling of clashes between police and protesters, is now taking fire from election challengers, including a retired officer and a politician once tasked with improving the bureau’s diversity.
Law enforcement has been a central theme in the campaign pitting Mayor Bill Peduto, state Rep. Ed Gainey, retired officer Tony Moreno and rideshare driver Mike Thompson, as the May 18 Democratic primary approaches.
Gainey criticized Peduto for being slow, in more than seven years as mayor, to reform the Bureau of Police. The mayor jabbed back, saying the lawmaker didn’t do enough to change the bureau when he was a community development specialist in former Mayor Luke Ravenstahl’s administration.
Moreno has landed the endorsement of the Fraternal Order of Police Fort Pitt Lodge 1 Political Action Committee, and said the incumbent has been arbitrary in his discipline of officers. Thompson, by contrast, called for ending the unionization of the force.
Here are four key facts about policing in Pittsburgh, and the candidates’ thoughts on related issues from interviews with PublicSource and a review of campaign materials.
Fact: 65% of arrested suspects were Black — more than double the Black share of the city’s population, per the bureau’s 2020 statistical report.
Gainey said the high rate of arrest of Black Pittsburghers is driven by the bureau’s failure to implement community-oriented policing, a law enforcement philosophy heavy on partnerships and problem-solving. “There is a serious issue with overpolicing in our neighborhoods, and the numbers don’t lie,” said the state representative, who comes from Lincoln-Lemington, which has a Black majority.
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