Editorial: Scirotto chose NCAA over Pittsburgh. That's why he shouldn't have taken the job in the first place

Pittsburgh police Chief Larry Scirotto is resigning his position effective Nov. 1.

He isn’t doing it because of problems within the department. He isn’t doing it because of rampant crime that can’t be controlled by the officers under his leadership.

He’s doing it because he would rather referee basketball games.

Scirotto has been a college basketball referee for years. It’s a perfectly good job, even a job that many people would aspire to have. Taking part in a high-profile sport and making it fair is definitely the kind of thing the people of a sports-centered area like Pittsburgh can understand.

So, what is the problem?

It’s that it feels like Scirotto took on the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police under false pretenses.

It was just Tuesday that Scirotto’s NCAA side hustle became an issue, as city Councilman Anthony Coghill asked for answers about how the chief was balancing refereeing and travel with the demands of his full-time job. Being a police chief is not exactly the kind of position where one punches out at the end of the day and hands off responsibility to the next shift.

Scirotto was named chief in May 2023. At that time, he agreed to abandon refereeing and focus on law enforcement. However, on Wednesday, Scirotto said that agreement was for just one year. At that time, he outlined plans to take a slight pay cut to cover pay for a deputy to step up during absences for the 60 to 65 games Scirotto would referee each year.

Since then, information was revealed that his prior employer, the city of Fort Lauderdale, also had issues with the overlap. An incomplete audit indicated he was “double dipping” as he was paid for both jobs. The auditor was fired, and Scirotto called the audit a politically motivated “hit piece.” He was fired amid an unrelated controversy shortly afterward in 2022.

Was Scirotto wrong to pursue his basketball refereeing passions? It doesn’t seem as though there was any intent to do more than take the opportunity to do a lucrative job he enjoys.

The problem is that taking a job like leading a police department doesn’t allow for much moonlighting. It’s a commitment, and commitments are hard to juggle with a second job that could have you in Michigan one day and California the next.

What really cements that Pittsburgh was not the priority is that, when questions arose, it took only four days to go from “there’s nothing to see here” to “see you later, Steel City.”

He could have given up the ref job for policing. He didn’t.