Pittsburgh City Council urges police to work more closely with faith groups

An ongoing effort to build police-community relations through involvement with local houses of worship will be expanded, after City Council voted to recommend an expansion of such programs Tuesday.

Councilman Ricky Burgess — a pastor who was recently elected moderator of the Allegheny Union Baptist Association — sponsored legislation that urges the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police to participate in the One Congregation One Precinct, or OneCOP, program and National Faith and Blue Weekend.

Both programs pair police officers with houses of worship in the areas they patrol as an effort to bolster community relations and open dialogue between law enforcement officers and the communities they serve.

Atlanta-based social change organization MovementForward created both initiatives.

Some Pittsburgh police officers and religious groups already have participated in Faith and Blue Weekend, said Sgt. Tiffany Kline-Costa of the Pittsburgh Police Community Engagement Office.

During the last Faith and Blue Weekend, seven of the city’s roughly 300 houses of faith participated, along with 30 city police officers, according to Kline-Costa.

She said continuing that program and launching the OneCOP initiative in the city could help strengthen ongoing efforts to build positive police-community relationships.

Those initiatives have been well-received at Bible Center Church in Homewood, Executive Pastor Cynthia Wallace previously told the Tribune-Review. Wallace said such measures “go a long way to rebuild faith and trust — going both ways,” and she expressed optimism for expanded partnerships between her church and law enforcement.

“Our best leaders in Pittsburgh, a lot of them come from our churches,” Councilman Anthony Coghill said.

He said faith leaders are often passionate about working to curb violence and build positive relationships in their communities.

Council President Theresa Kail-Smith, however, said she worried that some churches have turned a blind eye on crime in cases where members of their congregations may have had a relative involved in a crime.

“Sometimes I think some churches contribute to some of the problems,” she said, though she supported the measure.

This comes as council members say they’re poised to begin larger efforts to curb gun violence and explore police reform.

Burgess called for a public meeting to review the city’s current public safety situation and discuss potential solutions. He did provide specifics on what steps he thought may be necessary.

Burgess said he respects the protests against police that have been sparked by police killings, but said they need more than that to create tangible change.

“Anger alone does not lead to progress,” he said. “Protests alone do not lead to progress.”

Several council members said they wanted to work with Burgess to address police reform and gun violence in the city.

Kail-Smith said any measures council considers should be focused on bringing safety and peace to the city’s neighborhoods, rather than simply following the loudest voices who protest on the issues. Many of her constituents, she said, want more police in their communities and are unhappy that the city’s police numbers are down.

She also said that council members should participate in ride-alongs with officers to better understand what they deal with in the community.

Public meetings on those matters have not yet been scheduled.