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Acting Police Chief Meets With Pittsburgh Community Groups

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Acting Pittsburgh Police Chief Scott Schubert made his first town hall style appearance since taking over the bureau as he addressed several community groups on Wednesday evening.

The acting chief was invited to the Kingsley Association meeting by several neighborhood groups, including many of those representing the African American community.

The gathering was called "A Community Conversation."

Many in attendance said they agreed that relationships are a key component of policing.

Acting Chief Schubert says he wants to bring everyone together, from administrators to the union rank and file to community members.

But many at the meeting are concerned about the direction the department might take.

"It's amazing how many African Americans have come up to me since the former chief left our city, expressing great concern and upset," said Tim Stevens, the chairman and CEO of B-PEP.

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Many community group members are worried about losing site of community-wide goals.

"How we, in fact, honor the commitments that were made four weeks ago and how we actually expect to deliver," said Malik Bankston, the executive director of the Kingsley Association.

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There was strife and tension between the former chief, Cameron McLay, and the union membership, while many sectors of the community embraced his leadership.

Acting Chief Schubert says he's striving to be bring everyone together.

"Ever since Chief McLay resigned there's been a lot of word out in the street that we're going to stop going forward with what we've been doing, and just to reassure them that that's not the case. They have a lot of great things in play," Acting Chief Schubert said.

The acting chief says he intends to continue the community-oriented policing and the 21st century policing concepts that gained a lot of momentum during McLay's time in Pittsburgh.

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