Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Mayor William Peduto announced immediate changes on Friday to the way the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police (PBP) controls crowds at protests, including an immediate ban on pop-out arrests.
Officers with the PBP have been called out for their response to demonstrations against police brutality and systemic racism. On Saturday, one demonstrator was arrested by plainclothes officers who placed the individual into an unmarked can. After Peduto spoke with demonstrators who gathered outside his home on Wednesday, PBP officers arrived to disperse the crowd, which they referred to as an unlawful assembly. Demonstrators were directed by police to a nearby park. Once the crowd arrived at the park, they were informed by police officers that the park was closed. Police then pepper-sprayed at least one individual who was alleged to assault an officer. Peduto said Friday that clashes between police officers and demonstrators were not in line with “our common principles.”
“I have repeatedly watched interactions between police and protesters that escalated to uses of less-lethal weapons, arrest methods and other actions that I do not support, and which run counter to our common principles,” Peduto said in a Friday statement. “This is not the reform I wanted, and that I continue to believe in today.”
Peduto announced that a new Incident Commander would be assigned to oversee protests. In addition, Peduto said new command post positions would be made available for Civil Affairs and Public Safety Community Engagement staff with the goal of striking a balance between “improving police-community relations and protecting 1st Amendment rights.”
Get your unlimited Newsweek trial >
Police Special Response Teams are also expected to be restructured and are slated to only be deployed “when absolutely necessary to protect the public health.”
Peduto ordered a stop to jump-out arrests on Monday. His new guidelines are expected to finalize those orders. In addition, PBP units will be prohibited from wearing camouflage uniforms at protests.
In a statement issued Friday, Police Chief Scott Schubert and Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich said they supported Mayor Peduto’s decision. Schubert said members of the PBP “will be instrumental to ensuring these changes will result in a safer, more inclusive, and more compassionate Pittsburgh.”
Get your unlimited Newsweek trial >
Peduto said he was concerned about Saturday’s arrest of a protester by plainclothes police officers using the pop-out technique. Pop-out arrests involve officers quickly removing a suspect from a public area and placing them into an unmarked vehicle for transport. Federal agents deployed to Portland, Oregon in July were criticized by lawmakers for using a similar method.
“When we look at pop-out as a tactic, especially with officers who are in plain clothes, we have to examine when that is appropriate,” Peduto told reporters on Sunday. “We have to have an understanding if that is a tactic that should be utilized for a protest, and if so, when. And if when, why.”
Police said the protester had been previously warned to stop blocking intersections during the Saturday demonstration but persisted with his behavior. Police said they chose to use the pop-out tactic for the arrest in order to keep a “low profile.”
Peduto tweeted on Saturday that the city codes for lawful assembly had been co-created with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). While acknowledging the truth of Peduto’s statement, Legal Director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania Witold Walczak said in a Sunday statement that police officers had “tricked a protest leader to approach them and then whisked him away. The ACLU of Pennsylvania has never suggested that the snatch-and-stash arrest of a peaceful demonstrator is ever acceptable.”
Newsweek reached out to the Pittsburgh chapter of the ACLU for comment.
