CPRB has received 217 complaints to date this year. The meeting had a guest, Pittsburgh Police Chief Larry Scirotto. The Chief was provided with a list of things the Board hoped he would address regarding reorganizations in the Bureau. Ms. Nicole Edwards will be starting as a new CPRB investigator beginning on December 18th. She has an extensive and appropriate resume, with a Masters of Arts in Criminal Justice from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a public research university in Indiana, PA. She has a BA in Communication from Howard University in Washington, DC, and has studied at Cambridge University in the UK.

CPRB has received 188 complaints to date this year. Ms. Pittinger talked about how the last of the Community Conversations Series have concluded since CPRB’s September meeting. The last meetings were held in Homewood on October 6th and in the Elliott neighborhood in Council District 2 on October 19th. Both were reportedly very positive meetings, with a lot of community involvement, a lot of expression of issues that people needed help with from the police, and the Chief was very responsive. The Homewood meeting saw several officers of Zone 5 participating.

Executive Director Elizabeth Pittinger gave her report. CPRB has received 178 complaints to date this year. Ms. Pittinger noted that CPRB had a busy summer break, with the Black Political Empowerment Project’s (B-PEP) Community Engagement series “number one on the list”. CPRB welcomed new community liaison staff member, Ms. Sherry Bridget, who has been attending the B-PEP series, as well as attending City Public Safety Committee meetings and other local police accountability-related community meetings, and CPRB’s new administrative assistant, Da’Mesha Carpenter.

Mr. Larry Scirotto, who used to be the Assistant Chief of Police in Pittsburgh, has been appointed the 55th Chief of Police and joined the meeting. CPRB has had a good relationship with Chief Scirotto to date, and he has been an officer for 23 years. He was sworn in as the new Chief of Police on June 8th, so this is his second month of leadership.

Executive Director Elizabeth Pittinger gave an update. CPRB is 26 years old as of Saturday! Pittsburgh has a new chief of police, Larry Scirotto, a former assistant police chief in Pittsburgh who was confirmed today. His declared focus is on resolving staffing issues, as the bureau is 100 officers down right now. Scirotto is talking about launching a new cadet program and getting more involved in recruitment. Other priorities he has expressed interest in publicly are officer wellness, a concern for a long time, and reducing waste by going paperless. Ms. Pittinger remarked that these priorities seem sound. CPRB has not had a chance to meet the new chief yet. The process by which the City hired the new police chief was not transparent, and CPRB is weighing how to proceed.