Pittsburgh City Council gave final approval Tuesday for the city to enter into an agreement with an outside contractor to conduct an analysis of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police just one week after the proposal was introduced.
Matrix Consulting Group, headquartered in San Francisco can now enter into a $180,000 contract with the city to perform a study on the bureau’s staffing needs.
Council previously allocated for this type of study when creating the 2022 budget.
Matrix will provide recommendations to the bureau on how many officers are needed in what positions and on areas where officers are working in administrative positions that could be filled by civilians.
“This is a consultant that could really get us to dig into what is good for us to do here in Pittsburgh,” Councilwoman Deb Gross said last week.
Public Safety Director Lee Schmidt first announced that the city would contract a company to complete this study in early June, when Mayor Ed Gainey announced his “Plan for Peace.”
It falls into the component of the plan that Mr. Gainey refers to as “the right policing,” which focuses on rebuilding police-community relations and increasing police visibility in areas with high crime rates.
Near the end of May, the City Controller’s office, in conjunction with the Citizen Police Review Board, released an audit of the bureau. In the audit, it was suggested that the bureau “commission a study to determine an appropriate manpower standard and response times for each police zone,” according to the report.
A few weeks prior to that audit, the mayor’s transition team released a different set of recommendations, where they also suggested that the city and Department of Public Safety conduct a “thorough staffing and culture study …”
Currently, the city has about 900 officers and this study will be able to recommend if that number is appropriate, or should be higher or lower.
There currently isn’t a timeline for when the study will be completed.
During Tuesday’s meeting, members also gave final approval for a transfer of funds that were intended for a public safety training facility to complete the Penn Circle Project in East Liberty.
Council previously held this bill after Councilman Bruce Kraus expressed concern over taking money from Public Safety at a time when violence in the city is increasing.
Director of the Office of Budget and Management Jake Pawlak explained that the training facility wasn’t close to being ready for those funds to be spent, but because they were bonds, the city was under a timeline to spend them.
In contrast, the Penn Circle Project — which will change a one-way street into a two-way — is “shovel ready,” according to Mr. Pawlak.
“It is not and should not be perceived as a step away from the facility,” Mr. Pawlak said last week.
He explained that the funds, which total $1 million, could be reallocated to this facility when the budget process for next year began.
Council President Theresa Kail-Smith thanked Mr. Kraus during Tuesday’s meeting for holding the bill until all members were more comfortable with the transfer.
Council approved both ordinances unanimously with an 8-0 vote. Councilman Corey O’Connor was absent.
Hallie Lauer: hlauer@post-gazette.com
First Published: June 14, 2022, 5:14 p.m.
