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Pittsburgh Mayor Hires FBI Agent As Public Safety Director

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto has hired a former city paramedic and 25-year FBI veteran as the city's public safety director.

Fifty-three-year-old Wendell Hissrich will begin the job Jan. 11.

He replaces Stephen Bucar, another FBI veteran, who left in September for a job as deputy commissioner with the Pennsylvania State Police.

Hissrich was a paramedic for five years before joining the FBI in 1990.

Most recently, Hissrich was Chief of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Operations Response Unit at FBI headquarters. In that job, Hissrich supervised 56 FBI field offices as they focused on WMDs and related investigations.

City Council must approve the hiring to the post which pays $112,500 annually.

Acting public safety director Michael Huss will return to the deputy director's position he held under Bucar.

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(Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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