A statewide FBI alert about “potential threats” against law enforcement has Pittsburgh police doubling up in patrol vehicles, city officials said Sunday.
Officers are partnering up on assignments as an additional safety measure after two New York City police officers were shot and killed Saturday while sitting in their patrol car in Brooklyn.
Authorities said the gunman announced on social media that he planned to kill officers to avenge the death in New York City of Eric Garner, who was killed in a police chokehold earlier this year.
“It is not uncommon for us to take this course of action when information is received regarding potential threats against police officers,” Pittsburgh public safety spokeswoman Sonya Toler said.
Pittsburgh police Chief Cameron McLay could not be reached for comment.
The Brooklyn slayings of Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu on Saturday has heightened fears about the safety of law enforcement officials nationwide, though there is no evidence any threats are imminent. The gunman, 28-year-old Ismaaiyl Brinsley, had vowed in an Instagram post to put "wings on pigs" as retaliation for the slayings of black men at the hands of white police.
Brinsley was black; the slain New York Police Department officers were Hispanic and Asian.
In Philadelphia, police Commissioner Charles Ramsey is calling on all sides to “lower the volume” following the ambush slaying in New York City.
Commissioner Ramsey told CBS “This Morning” today that a union chief’s remarks that New York’s mayor had blood on his hands were “not helpful at all.”
He says it’s a volatile time for police-community relations.
President Barack Obama appointed Commissioner Ramsey to co-chair a task force on policing practices after the officer-involved deaths of unarmed men in New York and Missouri sparked mass protests and calls for reform.
Commissioner Ramsey says Mr. Obama was outraged over the killings of officers Ramos and Liu and said it underscored the urgency of the task force’s work. He says the immediate focus should be on burying the slain officers and supporting their families.
The Associated Press contributed.
First Published: December 22, 2014, 11:53 a.m.