According to everything we’ve learned about him since the night he was shot in the back, Pittsburgh Police Officer Calvin Hall was determined to be one of the good ones.
In Northview Heights, where he made a point of connecting with as many people as possible during his daily patrols, the residents speak of his kindness and conscientiousness. His colleagues testify to his relentless optimism — no small feat on a police force usually on the receiving end of withering community criticism.
So what accounts for the high regard everyone held for Officer Calvin Hall? Why did so many people adore this man? For those of us who didn’t know him or only encountered him in passing, the picture painted in the media is that, as a patrolman, Officer Hall was deeply respectful of everyone he encountered. He met people with a smile rather than the smirk of authority.
Instead of retreating behind a thin blue line of resentment and defensiveness, Officer Hall saw himself as an honest broker between two perpetually hurting communities — his brothers and sisters in blue and the people they are sworn to protect and defend. He didn’t “turn the other cheek” as much as conduct himself as a goodwill ambassador.
Through his daily actions, Officer Hall showed that there was nothing oxymoronic about a 36-year-old black man embracing his identity and serving with honor as a Pittsburgh police officer. There were no internal contradictions to overcome. He was equally at home in both his skin and in his uniform.
As a Pittsburgh police officer, he understood the perceptions of his uniform from both sides and the assumptions that pushed wedges between his colleagues and the people who instinctively fear them. He worked hard to bridge that chasm and overcome that suspicion with an integrity that was obvious to everyone who met him.
Because he was sincere about building bridges, Officer Hall was respected and beloved in Northview Heights, the community where he spent most of his hours on patrol. But Calvin Hall’s life wasn’t taken in the community where he was a daily fixture. His life was taken while visiting his cousin and his wife in Homewood on Sunday. According to the latest report, Officer Hall, who was off duty, got into an argument with his cousin’s neighbor.
After Officer Hall left his cousin’s house, word had gotten back to him that someone had pulled a gun on his relative. Officer Hall returned to Monticello Street to make sure his cousin was safe. His cousin assured him that it was in everyone’s interest to de-escalate. Officer Hall agreed. He and his cousin and his wife turned their backs and walked away from the neighbor as a gesture of goodwill.
Within seconds, gunshots broke the night’s hastily convened peace. Officer Hall was shot in the back three times. He wasn’t in uniform or wearing a protective vest. He was just trying to be a peacemaker. Police now have a “person of interest” in custody, being held on unrelated charges.
In death, Officer Hall is getting the kind of praise, honor and recognition Pittsburgh police officers rarely get in life. That’s a shame. There are many, many officers, who, like Officer Hall, want to build bridges and be a force for good in the community.
Their good work is usually overshadowed by the actions of those who didn’t take their vows to serve and protect as seriously as Officer Hall did. Every testimonial about Officer Hall reinforces the enormity of the loss of this man, especially in the community he served so diligently.
The problem of guns in the hands of dangerous and unstable people in this city is self-evident. There are too many of them in the hands of people who have nothing to live for and nothing to contribute to the world except their rage and sense of impotence when they’re not brandishing a gun. The gun is their equalizer because nothing else in their misbegotten lives works as dependably.
When we lose someone like Officer Hall, we realize how rare compassion and empathy are. These qualities aren’t as widely distributed as we would like them to be. When someone who embodies those virtues has their life snuffed out, we notice it immediately. It hurts all of us. We feel that loss acutely, though we can only imagine the pain of loved ones.
The images and footage of Pittsburgh police officers comforting the family of Officer Hall are deeply moving. These images remind even the fiercest critics of the police that they truly are a family during times like these. One of their best has been taken from them.
For those of us who didn’t know Officer Hall, we owe his family and colleagues space to grieve and all the sympathy we can muster. This is one of those tragedies that can never be rationalized or explained. The one consolation we all have is that many people are working around the clock to bring the shooter to justice.
It will surprise only a few people that I have friends and acquaintances who are Pittsburgh police officers or borough cops, but Officer Hall wasn’t one of them. That is my loss.
It would’ve been instructive seeing the community through his eyes. I would have loved to know why he was so positive about so many things. Why was he so gung-ho about community policing? How did he see his mission? How does a city in pain go about attracting more men and women like Calvin Hall to serve and protect?
Editor’s note: This column has been updated to reflect the fact the police have taken a “person of interest” into custody.
Tony Norman: tnorman@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1631.
First Published: July 19, 2019, 4:00 a.m.
