Disciplinary action initiated against 9 Pittsburgh police officers in tasing, death of man in Bloomfield

The Pittsburgh police have begun the disciplinary process for nine people involved in the October tasing and subsequent death of a homeless man.

Mayor Bill Peduto confirmed on Tuesday that disciplinary action reports have started to be served following a Critical Incident Review Board that concluded about two weeks ago.

No details have been provided as to what action has been taken or against which officers. The city has not released any of their names, although they were contained in the Critical Incident Review Board’s executive summary obtained by the Tribune-Review last week.

The disciplinary reports, said Dan Gilman, Peduto’s chief of staff, come from the commander level in the department, then go to the chief and public safety director.

Gilman said the mayor could not comment any further.

“We are not permitted to and doing so could jeopardize our internal discipline process,” he said.

The review board’s executive summary detailed policy and procedure violations by nine officers, including three supervisors at the Harriet Street scene on Oct. 13.

The report concluded that the incident “resulted from a series of compounding performance failures by [Pittsburgh police] personnel.”

Pittsburgh police were dispatched to Bloomfield for a possible stolen bike that morning, when officers encountered Jim Rogers.

According to the executive summary, Officer Keith Edmonds confronted him, asked a series of questions, patted Rogers down, and then took Rogers’ wallet from his left front pocket. A struggle ensued, which, the report said, caused Edmonds to view Rogers’ behavior as an act of aggression.

Edmonds then pulled his Taser and deployed it at least 10 times.

Other officers arrived, handcuffed Rogers and placed him in the back of a police vehicle.

While inside, the 15-page summary said, Rogers banged his head off the seat and repeatedly asked for help — saying at least 13 times, “‘I need a hospital, I can’t breathe, get a medic, help me.’”

None of the nine officers on the scene or two paramedics who had been called there to decontaminate officers who had gotten Rogers’ blood on them, checked on him.

Instead, they drove Rogers to an area hospital, but by the time he arrived, he was non-responsive, and CPR was started, the summary said.

He died the next day.

In addition to the internal review, there is a separate criminal investigation, which was led by the Allegheny County Police.

A police spokeswoman said that the materials from the criminal investigation have been turned over to District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr., although the medical examiner’s office has not yet completed the autopsy. A DA’s spokesman on Tuesday said there was still nothing new to report.

Devon Adwoa, an activist who is working with Rogers’ family, said the internal disciplinary action provides no resolution for them.

Instead, they are demanding that criminal charges be filed.

The executive summary, Adwoa said, shows negligence and brutality from every officer on the scene that day.

“Jim asked for help 13 times and never got it,” she said. “A man was pleading for his life.”

Adwoa criticized the city for failing to release the names of the officers involved, and the discipline they might be facing.

“We’ve been demanding from the very beginning that body camera footage get released and the entirety of what happened get released,” she said. “Everything that’s been done has been reactionary — only after the fact, only after pressure has been put on them.”

The city’s response, Adwoa said, “demonstrates to the people of Pittsburgh that taking Jim Rogers’ life is only worth a few policy changes.”

According to Pittsburgh police policy, once the Disciplinary Action Report is completed, the zone commander must meet with the officer charged, and then report to the chief what occurred at that meeting. In addition, the officer can file a written response.

Ultimately, within 10 working days, there will be a meeting between the officer, the union, the director of public safety, assistant chief, deputy chief and chief, and the officer will have a chance to respond to the charges.

Any discipline must be approved by the director of public safety.