Pittsburgh Police Union Votes 'No Confidence' In Chief McLay

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Pittsburgh Police union members voted Wednesday night, showing the have no confidence in Chief Cameron McLay.

Earlier in the week, the union released the results of an informal online survey showing they had no confidence in the chief.

For 12 hours on Wednesday, members case ballots in an official vote.

Just more than 60 percent of eligible officers took part in the vote.

Of the 459 who voted, 421 said they did not have confidence in the chief, 16 said they had confidence, and 22 abstained.

The vote is a symbolic one meant to send a message to the chief, in hopes he'll change some of his policies. And most recently, officers took issue with Chief McLay speaking at the Democratic National Convention while in his uniform.

Earlier in the week, KDKA talked to Chief McLay about the pending vote. He says he expected the resistance and is ready to keep moving the bureau forward.

Chief McLay talked about some of the challenges he faces saying, "One of them is to more clearly communicate the vision, so that everybody understands. And two, make sure we get enough training so that members at the service delivery level, officers, detectives, sergeants, have the tools they need and know that they can succeed."

Chief McLay went on to say, "The critical component is restoring people's perceptions of the integrity of their leadership system. Now remember the history here. Trust had been badly broken. Their chief was stealing and went to jail. They don't know who else might have been complicit in it here ... in this building."

After the vote Wednesday night, Mayor Bill Peduto reaffirmed his confidence in the chief, releasing this statement:

"I continue to have full confidence in Chief McLay and in his efforts to improve the bureau to better serve the residents of Pittsburgh.  Reform is never easy in any organization, and we will continue to work with the men and women of the Police Bureau to strengthen morale."

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