Activists Want a Trial

The Alliance for Police Accountability, a group that started up about a year ago, delivered an estimated 1,000 signatures to Stephen Zappala, the Allegheny County District Attorney on Friday morning urging that criminal charges be filed against the three city police officers involved in the beating of Jordan Miles. Among them was Miles' mother.

In early May, the federal Department of Justice announced that there would be no federal charges filed against the three officers who had been on paid leave from the police department, because federal prosecutors did not believe they could prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Brandi Fisher, the chair of the alliance, believes that since the federal investigation has come to a close, it is now up to Mr. Zappala to pursue the case.

"He has no reason to not prosecute," she said, saying she only wants the officers to be held accountable to the same laws all citizens are held accountable to.

DA spokesman Mike Manko said his office continues to review the matter.

Miles, then a high school student was arrested in January of 2010, on Tioga Street as he walked from his mother's home to his grandmother's.

Police had said he was acting suspicious and resisted arrest. He was brutally beaten and had hair ripped from his head.

Those charges were dropped.

Click It or Ticket in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh Police officers will be enforcing a “Click It or Ticket” policy from today through June 12.

The enforcement began today with a morning traffic stop on West Carson Street, near Station Square. Officers gave tickets to motorists not wearing seatbelts, and handed seatbelt information packets to everyone driving through.

Pittsburgh Police Officer Glen Aldridge says officers will be enforcing the “Click It or Ticket” policy all day and night, in all areas of the city, through Sunday, June 12.

Aldridge, a collision investigator, says he’s seen situations where seatbelts made the difference between life and death.

“Recently, I investigated a collision out in East Liberty where a car was struck. It was an SUV, and it rolled over, and two occupants were belted, and they actually walked away from the collision with no injuries whatsoever,” says Aldridge. “A few years ago, I investigated a collision of a similar nature. No-one in the vehicle was buckled. The car rolled over, one revolution, and a lady’s neck was broken. She was killed as a result.”

The Pittsburgh Policeman says he’d like to see driving without a seatbelt become a primary offense, so officers could pull over unbuckled drivers. Currently, it’s a secondary offense, meaning the driver must be pulled over for another reason before a ticket can be issued.

PennDOT Safety Press Officer Steve Cowan says last year, 524 people died in accidents without wearing seatbelts in Pennsylvania. Twenty-four of those deaths took place in Allegheny County.

Can Jordan Miles Incident Lead to Improved Relationships and Policing?

In this second report on policing and community relations vis-a-vis a controversial beating and arrest last year, WDUQ looks at some elements that contribute to trust, cooperation and accountability.

The Pittsburgh Bureau of Police has mechanisms for holding officers accountable, but University of Pittsburgh law professor David Harris says a lack of communication leads some people to think no discipline takes place.

Former Chief Robert McNeilly says it's important to train police officers annually in ethics, communications and diversity. Some officers should be removed from the ranks, but too often, arbitrators re-instate them even after serious misconduct. David Harris says this is a problem around the country.

A more diverse police force would enhance relations between the police and the community, but attracting minority applicants is a nationwide problem, according to Chief McNeilly and Prof. Harris. While the reasons for this may be several, distrust can be both cause and effect.

Prof. Harris says the Citizen Police Review Board could play a big role in restoring community confidence because it is so well designed and objective, but both city government and the police department have always opposed its operations.

Listen to the first report in this series.

Listen to the second report in this series

Jordan Miles Controversy Affects Police/Community Relations

Many in the African American community think police were the ones breaking the law in January, 2010 when they beat and arrested Jordan Miles in Homewood. There are allegations of racial profiling and excessive force.

Police union leaders have decried the dismissal of charges against the young honor student and the ongoing federal investigation of police for possible criminal civil rights violations.

In this report, WDUQ explores the effects this incident has had on the relationship between the community and police--and what impact that relationship may have on crime fighting. If community members think police are not lawful and fair, they do not cooperate with police.

Elizabeth Pittinger, executive director of the Citizen Police Review Board, says police must have "reasonable suspicion" to stop someone on the street. Brandi Fisher, who heads the Alliance for Police Accountability, thinks some police officers practice racial profiling, stopping any young male in a black neighborhood, whether or not there's an indication of wrongdoing.

Fisher says Miles was flourishing--doing well in school, never getting in trouble--in spite of living in a neighborhood with high poverty and crime, yet he was still beaten severely by police for no reason. She says the community is getting impatient for the results of the federal investigation, but it was reassuring to hear that U.S. Attorney David Hickton is aware of the case.

University of Pittsburgh law professor David Harris says it's very hard to prove a federal civil rights violation, and it's also hard in general to convict police officers. Whatever comes of the federal investigation or possible local action, he believes the community needs a full explanation of what happened that night.

Listen to second report in series

Pittsburgh gets K-9 money

The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development has awarded the Pittsburgh Police Department a $10,000 grant to purchase, train and house a new police dog. The request was mad by State Senator Jim Ferlo in reaction to the shooting death of a Pittsburgh Police K-9 officer last week. Ferlo says it was important to act quickly for two reasons. First, he says it is important to get another dog on the streets as soon as possible. Second, he says it is important to send a message to the community that police dogs are an important part of the force.

Police Clear Weapons From a Block in Homewood

Police say they're cleaning up a block in Homewood where abandoned homes have been used to stash weapons and drugs. Thirty pistols, hunting rifles and assault weapons were on display at Pittsburgh Police Headquarters today. And authorities say there were many more seized from the homes over the last year and a half. One of the weapons is believed to be the one that killed 12-year-old Jolesa Barber on the North Side in an alleged gang-related dispute last month. This block of Inwood Street in Homewood is right across from Westinghouse High School. U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan says drug dealing has gone on there between noon and 2 P.M., not long before school lets out. Now that an abandoned church and homes have been cleared of weapons, the city plans to demolish them. But Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala says there are many more Inwood Streets. And although eight men were arrested in connection with the weapons and drugs in Homewood, one man remains on the loose. Zappala says that man has connections as far away as Uniontown. He's asking for more cooperation from anyone who knows about similar activities on their streets.