Former Pittsburgh cop facing wiretapping allegations to receive $6,500 monthly pension

A former Pittsburgh police zone commander who retired amid investigations into whether he wiretapped fellow officers will receive a monthly pension of nearly $6,500 unless he’s convicted on criminal charges, police officials said Thursday.

The board of managers of Pittsburgh Policemen’s Relief and Pension Fund voted unanimously Thursday to pay Matthew Lackner nearly $78,000 in pension funds annually. He retired from his Zone 2 post on Oct. 18.

A police source told TribLIVE news partner WTAE-TV last month that Lackner planted a body camera in an officer’s cruiser to spy on them. Other sources said this involved more than one officer on more than one occasion.

Pittsburgh and Allegheny County police launched separate investigations into the allegations.

“He’s not been charged with anything and we don’t know if he’s going to be, so he qualifies for his pension,” said Ed Trapp, president of the fund’s board of managers and a retired special deployment commander. “Like everybody else, he’s innocent until proven guilty.”

If Lackner is convicted of a crime or pleads guilty to one, then the board of managers would revisit his pension payments, Trapp said.

Lackner, who was promoted to Zone 2 commander in October 2021, served for nearly 29 years with the city’s police force, records show. Zone 2 includes Downtown, the Strip District and part of the Hill District, according to the city’s website.

The salary for commanders in 2022 was set at $121,335, up from $108,996 a year earlier, records show. In 2023, the starting salary for a first-year Pittsburgh police officer is $25.69 an hour, which equals a yearly salary, based on a 40-hour work-week, of about $53,000 a year.

Pittsburgh police placed Lackner on paid administrative leave on Oct. 16 “pending the completion of an internal investigation,” police spokeswoman Cara Cruz said.

On Thursday, Cruz said, “There is still an (Office of Municipal Investigations) investigation, but I don’t know the status of that.”

Lackner retired two days after being placed on leave.

Allegheny County Police launched a criminal investigation last month into the wiretapping allegations, a spokesman confirmed. County Police Superintendent Chris Kearns told TribLIVE on Thursday that “there is no change in status to report at this time.”

Pennsylvania is a two-party consent state, meaning all parties involved in a conversation must consent before a conversation can be recorded. It is unclear if Lackner is accused of recording video, audio or both.