By firing five of the eight officers involved with 54-year-old Jim Rogers’ death, the Pittsburgh Police Department took a step toward justice and accountability. Three other officers remain on the force but will be re-trained.
Even so, without a public apology by Public Safety Director Lee Schmidt to Rogers’ family and the entire community, as well as a commitment to greater transparency in ongoing reforms, Wednesday’s announcement following an internal investigation fell short.
Mr. Rogers, who was stopped by police on Oct. 13 for allegedly stealing a bicycle in Bloomfield, died a day after police used a stun gun on him multiple times and ignored his pleas for medical attention. Mr. Rogers’ death was clearly unjustified, unwarranted and unnecessary. In effect, he received a death sentence for failing to comply with an officer’s order. It’s hard to imagine what caused these officers to act with such disregard for Mr. Rogers’ life, except that they viewed this unhoused Black man as something less than human.
If sincere, an apology is more than an empty gesture. It reflects the humility — a trait law enforcement often lacks — necessary to change the department’s culture.
Other departments have had the courage to apologize for lesser wrongs than killing a man without cause. In December, the police department in Aurora, Colo., apologized for officers pulling over a 24-year-old woman, approaching her with guns drawn and handcuffing her. After learning the woman’s car was not stolen, officers apologized, as did a police commander two days later.
Last month, the Rialto Police Department in California publicly apologized after an officer knocked down a 16-year-old girl and placed his hand on her throat after a traffic stop. The apology by Police Chief Mark Kling came before an internal investigation concluded.
Humility is essential for transparency. Without it, police departments simply assume they know best and don’t need interference from the community. Up to now, Pittsburgh Police have concealed information on Mr. Rogers’ death. It hasn’t released the officers’ names, videotape or even what further training three of the officers involved will receive. They have withheld an internal report from the district attorney’s office. At the very least, the department should commit now to releasing all pertinent information and fully disclosing any resulting reforms after employee challenges to termination run their course.
A grand jury criminal investigation continues, but in-custody deaths, no matter how gross the negligence, often don’t meet the legal standard for manslaughter. In January, the medical examiner ruled the death “accidental,” the result of a lack of oxygen to the brain, but the ruling of “accidental” means little more than officers didn’t intend to kill him.
Nearly six months after Mr. Rogers’ death, Pittsburgh Police took a step toward accountability but need to do more. Nothing in the law, or the collective bargaining agreement, prevents an apology. A man died without cause at the hands of police officers who were sworn to serve and protect. That’s more than enough to be sorry for.
First Published: March 25, 2022, 8:22 p.m.
Updated: March 26, 2022, 7:43 p.m.
