Officials: Lawsuits Against City, Complaints About Police Decreasing
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Pittsburgh leaders announced some positive statistics about the city on Wednesday.
Lawsuits against the city and complaints about police have both decreased in the past two years.
According to officials, lawsuits against the city are down 50 percent from 2013-15. Complaints against police officers are down 43 percent over that same time period.
Mayor Bill Peduto credits new hires, restructuring and training as playing a big role in why the number of complaints is down.
City officials said less than 100 lawsuits were filed against the city in 2015, which is a tremendous decrease from two years ago.
"In the past few years we've seen a 50 percent decrease, 50 percent decrease, in the number of lawsuits filed against the city," Peduto said.
Complaints against officers are down by almost as much - from over 330 in 2013, to 191 in 2015.
The majority of the complaints are conduct unbecoming, followed by use of force and neglect of duty.
Mayor Peduto said that when he first took office, he hired former federal prosecutor Lourdes Sanchez-Ridge to oversee the Office of Municipal Investigations. The decision was made to move it out of the Public Safety Department and into the Law Department, which Peduto says has prevented conflicts of interest.
"We had a situation where police were investigating police," Peduto said.
The FOP has another reason why complaints against officers may be down.
"One explanation for the decrease is statistics show that officers are not engaging in discretionary interactions because they can result in citizen complaints," FOP President Bob Swartzwelder said in a statement.
KDKA's Marty Griffin Reports:
Unions leader say officers will never be reluctant to respond to a 911 call, to engage a criminal, or to help a citizen.
However, union leaders say officers have cut way down in what they describe as discretionary activities, stops officers would generally initiate on their own.
"Society as a whole suffers. Police are always going do their job. Police officers are very dedicated, that's why they signed on to do this job," said Swartzwelder. "But, like any other profession, police officers are going to disengage at certain levels to avoid placing themselves and their family in serious jeopardy, and that's where I think everybody loses."
Meanwhile, Peduto also credits the decrease to the police chief and public safety director for disciplining on a fair and consistent basis.
The Law Department is continuing their legal training seminars for city employees, in addition to ethics and civil rights training that has already taken place.
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