Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor and his top public safety officials on Wednesday vowed to focus on building relationships between police and the communities they serve, improve officer wellness and address violent crime.
“First and foremost, we always have to focus on violent crime and quality of life issues,” Acting Police Chief Jason Lando told reporters as he finished a visit to the Zone 5 station in the city’s Highland Park neighborhood, where he had once served as commander. “That has to be the officers’ No. 1 priority.”
Lando joined O’Connor and Acting Public Safety Director Sheldon Williams in thanking officers at Zone 5 — the precinct that consistently sees the city’s highest crime rates — Wednesday afternoon.
The trio said building strong relationships with the community was essential.
“We’re going to roll out opportunities so we have better connection, be more community focused, community based,” Williams said.
Williams and Lando had shared the same sentiment Tuesday evening during a Zone 5 Public Safety Council meeting at the Kingsley Association in Larimer.
Lando, who experienced a sort of homecoming as he returned to his former beat, was greeted warmly by about 50 residents and community leaders there.
“Zone 5 will always have a special place in my heart,” Lando told the crowd.
Responding to questions from the audience, Lando explained that Pittsburgh police officers would not assist federal immigration agents in carrying out their duties in the city — but also would not intervene in disputes between those agents and residents.
It is the O’Connor administration’s policy to not assist U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement. Lando said he and O’Connor are “on the same page” about that.
Lando also touted a “chief’s community advisory board” he is looking to launch.
“The things that matter most to you matter most to us, too,” Williams told residents Tuesday night. He said he would be “the bridge” between Pittsburghers and the police force.
Lando said he wants to be present in the community and among the bureau’s rank and file.
“As the chief of police, it’s really important I be closely connected to the officers,” he said. “I’m not someone who likes to spend time behind my desk whenever possible. I like to be out and about.”
The acting chief said he also wants to prioritize officer wellness.
“Internally, I think not enough has been done — across the profession, not just in Pittsburgh — not enough has been done when we look at officer wellness, how we look at officers’ physical and mental health,” Lando said.
He wants to hire someone “whose sole job is just to take care of the officers.”
“We want them to be in a good mindset when they’re out on the street every day taking care of the community,” Lando said.
O’Connor said he wanted to express gratitude to the officers and ensure they had a line of communication with top officials.
“Thank you for serving your community, putting your lives at risk,” the mayor said. “You’re not spending as much time with your families. You are doing a service for your city.”
O’Connor on the campaign trail pledged to install steady leadership for the bureau, which over the last four years had seen five different chiefs or acting chiefs.
City Council is expected to hold interviews with Lando and Williams later this month before voting on their appointments.
Julia Burdelski and Justin Vellucci are TribLive staff writers. Julia can be reached at jburdelski@triblive.com, Justin at jvellucci@triblive.com.
