Pittsburgh police Chief Scirotto to step down amid refereeing controversy

Pittsburgh police Chief Larry Scirotto is resigning Nov. 1, capping more than a week of controversy over his decision to return to part-time refereeing at NCAA basketball games.

Scirotto sent an email just after 10 a.m. Friday to the 751-member Pittsburgh Bureau of Police notifying the force of his decision.

He said he had already informed Mayor Ed Gainey and Public Safety Director Lee Schmidt of his plans.

“This choice is made by me alone, in the best interests of my officers and the department,” Scirotto wrote in the email, which was obtained by TribLive.

“While I have enjoyed this work and look forward to my upcoming officiating commitments, I recognize that this visibility has become a distraction for the department,” Scirotto continued.

“I want to let you know that I have not given in to the opinions of a few individuals or the public’s perception; instead I am making this decision to prioritize the integrity and focus of our department. Optics matter, and my retirement is the right course for all of us.”

Gainey addressed the news about his chief during a Downtown press conference about a $600 million plan to revitalize Downtown. He said Scirotto “had to do what was best for him and his family.”

Councilwoman Barb Warwick, D-Greenfield, had harsh words for Scirotto.

“This is incredibly disappointing,” Warwick said. “The chief came in with a vision of a new model of policy that benefits communities. For him to bail on us in this critical moment is selfish. For him to say, ‘Forget it, I’m out,’ is beyond disappointing.”

Scirotto’s officiating has led to questions and concerns among city leaders about his ability to run a major metropolitan police force while traveling out of town to referee up to 65 games a year.

“I think that was probably the right thing to do,” Councilman Anthony Coghill. D-Beechview, said. “I don’t think he could’ve balanced both jobs.”

Council President R. Daniel Lavelle said he was surprised by the news.

Lavelle said he was not sure whether the city would launch a national search for Scirotto’s replacement or promote from within.

Assistant Chief Christopher Ragland, a 30-year veteran, will take over as acting chief.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence in Chief Ragland,” Gainey said Friday, pointing to Ragland’s spearheading efforts to create a stronger police presence Downtown. “He’s done a phenomenal job.”

Lavelle said he knew there were concerns — and he was personally worried — about Scirotto refereeing, but he couldn’t say whether the chief leaving was in the city’s best interests.

“I think Chief Scirotto has done a phenomenal job as chief,” Lavelle said.

Councilmember Bob Charland had cutting words for the mayor.

“Though I imagine his administration will try to find a way to twist it into a positive, it looks like Mayor Gainey was played on this one,” Charland said. “This is just another in the long list of incompetencies that my neighbors are fed up with.”

Scirotto could not be reached Friday, and Ragland declined comment.

‘Many questions’

Public Safety Director Lee Schmidt said there had been ongoing conversations about the chief’s potential departure. Schmidt said he knew if the chief couldn’t referee while leading the bureau, he would quit.

“Obviously it’s disappointing,” Schmidt said. “The chief’s been doing great work.”

While Schmidt acknowledged that Scirotto was at the helm over the last 18 months as the city’s police force worked to more efficiently use its resources and reduce homicides, he said that work will continue even without Scirotto.

“The chief didn’t do that alone,” Schmidt said, crediting the force’s command staff and officers.

While Ragland will run the department for the time being, Schmidt and Gainey provided few details on what a search for a new chief will entail or whether they are looking to promote from within the bureau’s ranks.

Schmidt said the process will include input from the public and members of City Council.

“Many people respect Chief Ragland,” Schmidt said. “I’m sure there’s some that might not appreciate him all the time, but I think he does a great job.”

Ragland, 53, was set to earn $146,000 this year at his assistant chief’s salary. He will begin making the chief’s salary — $185,400 — when he takes over for Scirotto.

Scirotto had come under scrutiny over his refereeing at his previous police chief job in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., when a city auditor there accused him of violating departmental policy in relation to his officiating.

Scirotto dismissed the audit as politically motivated.

With his departure, Scirotto, 51, will walk away from a job that paid more than $185,000 a year. It will be the second top position he has left in the past several years. He resigned from the Fort Lauderdale department in 2022 amid controversy over his minority promotions.

Coghill says he’ll still hold a City Council session Tuesday to get more information on the details surrounding Scirotto’s departure. “There’s many questions that need to be aired out.”

Councilman Bobby Wilson of the North Side called Scirotto’s pending departure “unfortunate.”

“If that’s what he’s going to decide, Pittsburgh needs to move on and look for a chief who is going to make sure the city is as safe as it can be,” Wilson said.

Secretive search

Scirotto, a longtime Pittsburgh police veteran who had left the force, returned in May 2023 when he was hired as chief to replace Scott Schubert. Scirotto was one of three finalists.

The search process was cloaked in secrecy. Gainey worked for nearly six months behind closed doors to find Schubert’s successor. Members of the search committee signed nondisclosure agreements with the city, and Schmidt said the selection process was not public.

David Harris, a University of Pittsburgh law professor who was on the search committee, said his nondisclosure agreement barred him from making detailed comment. He said, however, that he was “really disappointed” about Scirotto’s decision.

“What I can say is he was a very good candidate,” Harris said. “If he had said, ‘Hey, I’m also going to referee games for the NCAA,’ that would have given me pause. Being chief is a full-time job.”

Brandi Fisher, founder of the police reform group Alliance for Police Accountability and another search committee member, said the focus now should turn to how best to find a new chief.

“Do we want another national search? Have we changed the culture just enough to hire from within? These are the questions we must answer now,” Fisher said.

Almost immediately, the issue of Scirotto’s yearslong side gig as a basketball referee became a topic of conversation with the mayor. Scirotto said he agreed that he would not officiate while chief.

Exact parameters of the arrangement were not disclosed.

The agreement lasted less than 18 months. Scirotto returned to refereeing earlier this month when he officiated an exhibition game in Michigan.

Following media coverage of Scirotto’s surprise return to officiating, Gainey and Scirotto reluctantly provided limited details that shed new light on the refereeing hiatus.

Gainey said a 30% decrease in homicides citywide over the last two years factored into the decision to allow Scirotto to return to courtside.

The mayor also said Scirotto had approached him about “possibly needing to step down from his role in order to pursue this part-time refereeing gig.”

“I said there must be a better way,” Gainey said last week in a statement. “He’s too good, and we are making too much progress, not to keep up the fight.”

Scirotto pledged to take a $20,000 pay cut in order to bump up the salary of Ragland and make him a deputy chief who would run the department while Scirotto was away refereeing.

Schmidt on Friday defended Scirotto’s plan to referee, saying that no one can work 24/7.

“We thought we could make it work,” Schmidt said.

Ultimately, Scirotto changed his mind amid the pressure put on him over the last week, the public safety director said.

“Sometimes you make decisions and realize that wasn’t the best one and you have to change your mind,” Schmidt said. “We all do that every day. That’s what occurred in this case. There’s nothing that I fault anyone for. I think it is the best decision for the bureau and the chief.”

Schmidt also acknowledged officials were aware of the Fort Lauderdale audit which alleged Scirotto was double dipping — being paid for working as chief while at the same time refereeing and traveling to games. Scirotto dismissed the audit, which was never acted upon.

“The audit was never completed or published so we didn’t have access to that,” Schmidt said, though he said he was aware of its existence.

TribLive obtained a copy of the audit Thursday.

“That was in the media in Fort Lauderdale prior to his hiring so I think that was transparent during the hiring process,” Schmidt said.

He could not say why council members reported being left in the dark about the audit.

Climbing up the ladder

Scirotto joined the Pittsburgh police in 1995, climbing to become assistant chief before retiring in 2018.

He was proud to be the bureau’s first gay and biracial chief.

During his tenure, Scirotto grappled with staffing shortages and stubborn crime trends Downtown and on the South Side. He cut back on night staffing.

Scirotto relocated from Dallas to Pittsburgh’s South Side. He was raised in Monessen and previously lived in Pittsburgh’s Mt. Washington neighborhood.

Over his years as a Pittsburgh police officer, Scirotto had led the major crimes division and worked in the K-9 unit and on narcotics investigations.

“What we do matters. Who we do it for matters,” Scirotto told TribLive when he took over the bureau. “My mom, she always challenged me to improve the lives of others, not to be selfish. And, with that, you’re going to have some sacrifices. And so I’ve always thought of it like I’m a servant.”

Staff writer Justin Vellucci contributed to this report.