4 up, 5 to go: Allegheny County’s police review board awaits Fitzgerald’s picks

Left to right: Keith Murphy, Richard Garland and Justin Leavitt Pearl. (Left photo by Quinn Glabicki/PublicSource, Right photo by Lilly Kubit/PublicSource)

by Charlie Wolfson and Ladimir Garcia, PublicSource

Allegheny County’s new Independent Police Review Board could be a “real force for good” in the county, said freshly appointed board member Justin Leavitt Pearl, but any action must wait until all of its seats are filled.

“This board exists so that people can have their voices heard,” said Pearl, one of the four initial appointees. “If that’s happening, I think this board is a success.”

But the nine-member panel, which was created by council’s vote more than 16 months ago, cannot officially begin oversight until County Executive Rich Fitzgerald makes his own four appointments, and it’s unclear when he will do that. (Council and the executive must agree on a ninth member.)

The board’s effectiveness will also depend on whether or not individual municipalities agree to submit to its oversight.

County Council on Aug. 30 formally appointed four people to the panel, which will be empowered to investigate complaints about police officers under its jurisdiction and make disciplinary recommendations. They are:

Pearl, a 35-year-old Pittsburgh resident who directs Carlow University’s Atkins Center for Ethics
Keith Murphy, 60, of McKeesport and founder of the Healthy Village Learning Institute
Lynn Banaszak, a 55-year-old Pittsburgher and a diversity, equity and inclusion executive at Amazon
Richard Garland, 69, of South Park, who was formerly incarcerated and now heads the Violence Prevention Project at the University of Pittsburgh.

These appointees are the product of a monthslong selection process that council initiated in March. In addition to the four, council recommended another candidate, David Mayernick, for Fitzgerald to consider for the joint appointee.

Fitzgerald’s spokesperson, Amie Downs, said the executive expects to announce his picks for the board “in the coming weeks.” She said in June he was waiting until after council made its appointments.

Two council picks said they hoped the panel could, at the very least, send a positive message.

“Me being a former gang member, me being from Philadelphia, me being incarcerated, for them to pick me for this board says a whole lot to the community and to other formerly incarcerated folks who didn’t think that they could be part of society and have something to do with making change,” Garland said in an interview.

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