Protesters demand accused Penn Hills officer stay off the street

LaTasha Talley, mother of the late Romir Talley, and activists attended the Jan. 24 Penn Hills council meeting with the intention of keeping officer Robert Gowans on desk duty until the investigation into the death of Talley concludes.

Gowans is under investigation in the Dec. 22, 2019, shooting death of 24-year-old Talley in Wilkinsburg, which occurred when he was on duty as a Wilkinsburg officer. Allegheny County police say that Wilkinsburg police, in response to a 911 call, were in pursuit of Talley and that he fired one round at an unidentified police officer who returned fire.

Penn Hills Police Department hired Gowans in April, which drew backlash from the community and activists. While council was holding an emergency meeting about Gowans in May, a rally was taking place outside of the municipal building. The meeting resulted in the decision of the police department to fire Gowans. The officer was fired in May.

In November, an arbitrator judge reinstated Gowans to the Penn Hills Police Department. The officer’s first day on the job was Dec. 13. At the time, Penn Hills manager Scott Andrejchak declined to comment further.

“We appreciate the fact that you took action the first time,” said Kyna James, the coalition organizer for the Alliance for Police Accountability. “We are asking that while (Officer Gowans) is still actively under investigation for the death of Romir Talley when he was a Wilkinsburg police officer, that he be remanded to desk duty.”

James was listed to speak on non-agenda items but is not a Penn Hills resident. This caused an interruption at the meeting, as a non-Penn Hills resident is not allowed to speak at a voting meeting, according to the Penn Hills charter.

Mayor Pauline Calabrese called a vote to allow both James and Talley to speak, which she and the rest of the council voted unanimously to allow. Council members said they weren’t aware of the group planning to speak until a few minutes prior to the meeting.

The mayor and council stressed the hiring of police officers is made by the municipal manager without the input of council. The council is involved in the hiring of heads of a department, but cannot hire or fire anyone else.

“Now I couldn’t protect my son that night, but I will try my damndest to protect these kids in Penn Hills because I will not sit back and watch what that man, that thug, did to my son,” said LaTasha Talley.

The incident remains under review by the Allegheny County district attorney’s office, who has not filed charges against Gowans as of this time. New police Chief Ronald Como, who was introduced at the meeting, declined to comment on the hiring or firing of Gowans. Como was not in the role of police chief during the hiring, firing or reinstatement of Gowans.

No action on the matter was taken by council because it was not included on the meeting agenda.