Five Pittsburgh Officers Barred From Screening Recruits

Pittsburgh officials Friday barred five police officers -- including a commander and a sergeant -- from screening potential recruits based on eligibility requirements established in a new policy.

Two more officers stepped down for reasons that are unclear.

The move comes one week after city council members and citizens groups raised concerns about the appropriateness of officers with tainted or questionable records interviewing potential candidates for the police academy.

Both acting Pittsburgh police Chief Regina McDonald and Public Safety Director Michael Huss declined to release the full list of officers who were either removed or stepped down from their positions as full-time or alternate members of the 10 panels set to begin hearing exams next week.

Mr. Huss confirmed that among those no longer serving as evaluators were:

--Zone 2 Cmdr. Eric Holmes, who is under internal scrutiny over holding a second full-time job while he worked as a sergeant.

--Lt. Charles Rodriguez, whose promotion was controversial because of a domestic violence charge by his daughter that eventually was dropped.

--Sgt. Carol Ehlinger, who has been the subject of two use-of-force allegations by fellow officers claiming she choked them and in which the city paid more than $500,000, most of it in legal fees.

--Officer David Sisak, who is facing a second civil trial in connection with a high-profile case in which he and his partners are accused of beating Jordan Miles in Homewood. He was not prosecuted criminally.

The police bureau worked with the Office of Municipal Investigations and city Law Department to determine whether the 56 people it originally selected were still eligible to hear exams under a new policy finalized Wednesday.

The one-page document prohibits officers from hearing the exams if they have criminal charges pending, are the subject of an OMI investigation that could result in criminal charges, have been disciplined by the bureau within the past 10 years, have been arrested for domestic violence or named as a defendant in a protection-from-abuse order in the past 10 years or have been found liable in a civil suit that has gone to trial within the last decade.

Chief McDonald said officers originally selected as alternates for the panels will fill in for full-time examiners who have been removed or left.

A final grouping of panelists -- which must be vetted to ensure diversity in age, rank and experience of its members -- should be complete on Monday, the same day potential examiners report for training, the chief said.

Elizabeth Pittinger, executive director of the Citizen Police Review Board, previously raised concerns that even the hint of impropriety could call into question the integrity of the exam process. She learned of the reshuffling from a reporter Friday afternoon.

"I think that's good," she said. "I think it keeps everybody in a more comfortable position, and there's less likely to be criticism of their choices at the end of the day."

McClatchy-Tribune News Service