Pittsburgh police chief's decision to resume part-time refereeing draws criticism

Pittsburgh police Chief Larry Scirotto announced Thursday he will return to his passion of refereeing college basketball games part-time — apparently reversing an agreement with Mayor Ed Gainey not to officiate while serving as chief of Western Pennsylvania’s largest police force.

Scirotto’s news came out of the blue in a mid-afternoon press release.

Gainey followed up his chief’s surprise statement with one of his own, saying Scirotto had approached him about “possibly needing to step down from his role in order to pursue this part-time refereeing gig.”

“I said there must be a better way,” according to Gainey’s statement. “He’s too good, and we are making too much progress, not to keep up the fight.”

Gainey did not say when Scirotto had come to him or explain what changed his mind to allow his chief’s return to refereeing less than 18 months after they struck an agreement to set officiating aside.

The move quickly drew the ire of both a city councilman who was one of the chief’s most vocal supporters and the head of the Fraternal Order of Police union. 

Councilman Anthony Coghill, who chairs City Council’s public safety committee, said he was concerned about the chief’s ability to juggle refereeing with running the police bureau.

“Do you want to be a referee or do you want to be a police chief?” the Beechview Democrat said. “I don’t think he can do both. I would think that he has his hands full here in Pittsburgh with the lack of police we have and the new way of policing he’s trying to shepherd in.”

Councilwoman Theresa Kail-Smith, D-West End, indicated that Scirotto’s decision was contrary to council’s understanding of his arrangement with the mayor to stop refereeing.

“I think they have a very challenging job and I understand why he would want to referee and make additional money — but that’s just not what we were told would happen,” Kail-Smith said.

Scirotto earns $185,400 a year as chief.

Councilwoman Barb Warwick, D-Greenfield, said she wants to give Scirotto “the benefit of the doubt” that he’ll be able to manage both refereeing and his duties as chief.

“In the time I have been council, he has always picked up the phone,” Warwick said. “He’s been extremely accessible and present.”

If that changes because of his refereeing gig, Warwick said, then she’ll have an issue with it. Until then, she said, she wants to believe he’ll balance both.

“We all do things on our spare time, myself included,” she said.

Robert Swartzwelder, the police union president, cast Scirotto’s decision in the context of frequent union complaints about staffing.

“The FOP is disappointed in the city’s decision to allow for a part-time chief of police,” Swartzwelder said. “When full-time leadership is needed [and] police staffing cut to the bone, the city has decided to allow its leadership to work off-duty details and referee games.”

Reached by phone in Boston, where he said he is attending a police conference, Scirotto repeatedly did not answer questions about his referee work or statements Gainey attributed to him.

Scirotto said he would discuss the situation further at a press conference Tuesday.

“Nothing more to add to what I released,” Scirotto told a TribLive reporter by text. “I want to do this one time and not have a bunch of mini-stories.”

Continuity of command

In his statement, Scirotto said he will promote Assistant Chief Chris Ragland so there’s no gap in running the force while he is refereeing.

“I’ve worked out a way of accommodating the schedule so that I may continue to fight for you as your chief,” Scirotto wrote in his statement, which came out Thursday afternoon.

“I’ll be using my own time to ensure no cost to the city. To make certain there’s never a break in command and control, I’ve identified Assistant Chief Chris Ragland to assume a unique role of Deputy Chief, to execute on decisions or respond to emergencies for those few hours when I’m on the court.

Ragland did not respond to a phone call Thursday seeking comment.

Scirotto described himself as a “lifelong sports fan.” He said it was a “dream come true” to return to college refereeing, which he had done for years.

Upon being hired, Scirotto agreed to stop refereeing. It is unclear what changed.

On Sunday, Scirotto refereed an exhibition college basketball game in Michigan, according to a Michigan State University website.

Scirotto did not respond to a direct question about whether the agreement with Gainey was in writing.

Cara Cruz, a police spokeswoman, said she had no information on the chief’s decision or whether the initial agreement to step down from NCAA duties was verbal or written.

Coghill also said he also did not know.

Past gigs

Scirotto did not referee during 2024’s NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, David Worlock, an NCAA spokesman, told TribLive.

He did officiate, however, during the 2023 tournament, before he was selected as Pittsburgh’s police chief.

At the time, Scirotto was between top cop jobs, having left his position in March 2022 as the head of Fort Lauderdale’s police department amid controversy over promoting minority.

He refereed second-round, Sweet 16 and Final Four games in Colorado, New York and Ohio, respectively, Worlock said.

Scirotto was paid “a per-game fee” for his referee work, said Worlock. Worlock did not respond when asked how much the fee was.

The chief had no contract with the NCAA and was not in any referee-related union.

No further records about Scirotto’s referee work or how he is paid for it were available Thursday.

Gainey nominated Scirotto for chief on May 3, 2023, following a nationwide search. Council confirmed Scirotto 20 days later.

The mayor worked with search committees, almost entirely behind closed doors, for nearly six months to find a successor to former Chief Scott Schubert, who announced his retirement in 2022.

“His deep love for the city, his knowledge of the bureau, and his outsider perspective make him the right choice for chief of police,” Gainey said about Scirotto at the time.

Scirotto joined the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police in 1995, climbing the ranks to become assistant chief before retiring in 2018. During his tenure, he also headed the major crimes unit.