Nearly three years after its initial introduction into Allegheny County Council, the ordinance to form an independent police review board passed Tuesday evening.
The independent police review board will act as a body to investigate allegations of misconduct against police officers.
The review board will apply only to officers who work for Allegheny County Police. Other municipalities in the county may opt into the review board if they so choose.
Originally introduced in 2018, the ordinance had gone through various revisions. The board will have a total of nine unpaid members — four appointed by the council, four appointed by Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald and one chosen through a compromise between the parties.
“I’m just overjoyed,” Councilman DeWitt Walton said at the passing of the ordinance.
In his defense of the review board during Tuesday’s meeting, Mr. Walton told two stories of times when he was pulled over by police in the 1970s and ’80s and had his life threatened.
“We need this,” he said. “We cannot do this any longer. If it happened to me, it happens to too many.”
The vote was 9-5, with one council member absent.
Council members Olivia Bennett (D-District 13), Tom Duerr (D-District 5), Bethany Hallam (D-at large), Paul Klein (D-District 11), Robert Palmosina (D-District 12), Anita Prizio (D-District 3), DeWitt Walton (D-District 10), Paul Zavarella (D-District 8) and President Pat Catena (D-District 4) all voted to pass the ordinance while Sam DeMarco (R-at large), Nick Futules (D-District 7), Cindy Kirk (R-District 2), Bob Macey (D-District 9) and John Palmiere (D-District 6) voted against it. Councilman Tom Baker (R-District 1) was absent from Tuesday’s meeting.
“I think it’s an incredibly important step to repairing the divide between our communities and our law enforcement agencies,” Mr. Duerr said. “Oversight and accountability in and of itself is not justice. It does not bring back the lives of all the unarmed people of color who have been killed by police brutality over the years … but it is a step toward justice.”
The initial bill was presented to council after the killing of 17-year-old Antwon Rose II by East Pittsburgh police Officer Michael Rosfeld in June 2018 sparked calls for police reform.
Mr. Walton and Mr. Klein held a series of public hearings on the review board that summer and proposed an earlier version of this bill in December 2018. It has since gone through a number of revisions.
After the council passed the bill, Mr. Fitzgerald said in a statement that he would sign this legislation into law.
“I look forward to working with our municipal partners so that we can include as many police departments as possible in this effort,” he said. “This bill, and the resulting board, will provide an additional avenue for public accountability from law enforcement in our region. This is a great opportunity for the region moving forward.”
For those who voted against the review board, many of the issues raised had to do with the fact that the review board doesn’t prevent incidents from happening but rather handles them after they occur.
“This doesn’t solve much of the problem because it’s after the fact,” Mr. Futules said.
He added that law enforcement agencies in his district were against the review board but would support more training that could be preventive of future incidents.
“Many people in the community don’t feel in many ways that their complaints are heard, or that they receive action on them … and they’re looking for some sort of way to provide transparency and accountability,” Mr. DeMarco said. “Unfortunately, I don’t believe this bill in this structure is what's going to deliver it for them.”
Mr. DeMarco also noted that he is concerned that this bill was raising issues with due process and police unions.
Tim Stevens from the Black Political Empowerment Project attended Tuesday’s meeting to give public comment. He called this bill “a beginning.”
“You can always work on it. You can always improve it,” he said of the review board. “But give the citizens of Allegheny County an opportunity to have an opportunity to share their grievances. We need every vehicle we can by which those who have negative interactions can have a moment for justice.”
The ordinance passed despite a call by Mr. Futules to postpone the vote, due to a public hearing scheduled for Wednesday, April 28.
Mr. Futules said April 28 had been chosen for the hearing because they believed the bill would still be in committee, rather than back in regular council.
Mr. Futules proposed that the vote be held until the next regular council meeting May 11. Half of the council in attendance wanted to postpone the vote so that the public could have a chance to speak on the topic.
“Holding the meeting tomorrow and allowing it to proceed may not change anyone’s mind,” Mr. DeMarco said. “Holding [the meeting] until the 11th [of May], to allow the public to weigh in … it’s just showing respect to the citizens of Allegheny County.”
The vote to postpone the police review board ordinance failed with a 7-7 vote, with Mr. Baker absent. There had been 10 people scheduled to speak at the hearing, which has subsequently been canceled.
The review board is scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1, 2022.
Hallie Lauer: hlauer@post-gazette.com.
First Published: April 27, 2021, 11:59 p.m.
