Zappala criticizes Gainey administration, Pittsburgh police over response to city violence
Paula Reed WardPAULA REED WARD | Friday, Dec. 16, 2022 6:14 p.m.
Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. on Friday criticized Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and the city’s police department for failing to curb violence and ensure that the public feels safe.
“You have to have the cooperation of the elected officials,” Zappala said. “The city’s a problem right now. The city was a problem for the last six years.”
Speaking to reporters for the first time in months, Zappala spent about 30 minutes taking questions following his announcement that he will seek a seventh term in office. He is the first person to formally enter the race for district attorney.
Zappala became the DA in 1998 and was reelected for a sixth term in 2019.
For the criminal justice system to work, Zappala said, there has to be collaboration.
“I just need to know who I can count on and work together. You’ve got to work as a team,” he said. “(Gainey’s administration has) a very different philosophy about policing.”
Zappala referenced shootings in the South Side earlier this year and the perception of violence there, as well as violence in Downtown, where in May an 18-month-old was shot and killed on a Sunday afternoon.
“That’s brazen. What would make you feel comfortable enough that you’d go Downtown and kill a child … on a Sunday afternoon?” Zappala said. “That’s a policing matter. That’s an administrative matter.”
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Zappala said that under the late Mayor Bob O’Connor, and then Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, the city saw a renaissance. Since, under former Mayor Bill Peduto and now Gainey, Zappala said that growth has regressed.
“If you talk to the business people Downtown, they don’t have anything good to say about that (Peduto) administration, and they’re optimistic about Mr. Gainey.”
Zappala said he wasn’t. Referencing Gainey’s long tenure as a state representative, he noted that Gainey’s district was “routinely considered to be some of the most violent neighborhoods in Western Pennsylvania.
“I haven’t seen the background or performance that gives me a lot of comfort,” Zappala said.
He criticized the Pittsburgh police structure, as well.
“The city police do not have a hierarchy. They don’t have an administration. Everything’s temporary, so everybody is kind of like, ‘Can I make a decision or can I not make a decision?’ When they get your attention, they get nervous.”
Maria Montano, a spokeswoman for Gainey, said the city is conducting a national search for someone to replace former Chief Scott Schubert, whose last day was July 1. She said the city recently completed what she called “fairly robust community engagement” to learn what residents are looking for.
“This is a major decision for the mayor,” Montano said. “It’s more important that we get it right than get it fast. But we also recognize a sense of urgency.”
She said that nobody has been more up front than Gainey about the need to address long-term, systemic issues leading to violence in the community.
Among his policy suggestions, Zappala said the city should implement a curfew since much of the recent violence in the city has been committed by juveniles.
He also said that progressive policing policies have “failed miserably.”
“This is not a game. This is not a political agenda. This is not a political philosophy. This is about hard work, boots on the streets,” he said. “We’ve been undermining the relationship the police need with the community.”
Gainey, who attended the event where Zappala announced his candidacy, spoke briefly to reporters afterward. He said that the city’s arrest rates are good but something that continues to hamper progress is the closure of Shuman Juvenile Detention Center in September 2021.
“We need a Shuman, there’s no question about it,” Gainey said. “We also need to know when we are making an arrest, that they’re not just getting right back out.”
In describing how she thinks the city has made public safety a priority, Montano pointed to the administration’s new Plan for Peace and noted that there will be at least two classes in the police academy next year.
The city has also doubled the size of the city’s community violence intervention team and increased police patrols Downtown, including additional “park-and-walks” that provide proactive policing. She said the city also has closed multiple open-air drug markets and is committed to removing illegal guns from the streets.
“I’m never going to be one to come and point the finger at anybody,” Gainey said. “I’ve never seen where that strategy works. What I’ve always said is that we want to work with everybody to ensure that this is the safest city in America. We will continue to reach out, we will continue to be good partners.”
Zappala said he’s open to working with Gainey.
“He’s aware of the problems. My guys have given him my best advice. I’ve talked to him,” Zappala said. “Mr. Gainey is good at winning the hearts and minds of people apparently. He likes the pulpit type of approach. Great, go down there and win the hearts and minds of business people and listen to what they need.”
Zappala also addressed the ongoing investigation into the death of Jim Rogers, who died a day after he was tased at least eight times in October 2021 in Bloomfield. Several Pittsburgh police officers were accused in an internal report of failing to properly do their jobs.
Zappala submitted that case to a county grand jury early last year. That panel concluded its work, but Zappala has not said whether it resulted in a recommendation of charges.
On Friday, he said another agency is currently looking at the case. He would not say what agency.
Zappala said he thinks officers should face criminal charges in the case, but said it would be inappropriate for him to take any action on it while another agency is investigating.
Paula Reed Ward is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paula by email at pward@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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