Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Pittsburgh police chief lays out priorities to LGBTQIA+ Commission, seeks liaison expansion
Loading...
Summary
Newly returned Chief Jason Lando told the Pittsburgh LGBTQIA+ Commission he will prioritize violent "quality of life" crimes, officer wellness, leadership development and recruiting a more diverse force, and he urged expanded liaison programs and community reporting of threats.
Chief Jason Lando, newly returned to Pittsburgh’s police leadership, told the LGBTQIA+ Commission on March 17 that his top priorities are reducing violent "quality of life" crime, improving officer wellness, strengthening leadership training and boosting recruitment and retention to better reflect the city’s diversity.
Lando spoke after the commission invited him and the department’s LGBTQIA+ liaison to the virtual meeting. "Violent quality-of-life crime is always number one," he said, adding that officer resiliency and professional development are essential to improving community service. He described establishing a multicultural liaison unit in his prior post and said he wants to build a similar liaison program here that would train representatives from underrepresented communities.
The chief told commissioners that the police department already provides sensitivity and implicit-bias training in the academy and in periodic in-service sessions. "We identified what the top five communities were," he said of an earlier liaison effort, and suggested the commission could help identify underrepresented communities in Pittsburgh for a formal liaison program.
Commissioners pressed Lando on event planning and public-safety posture for Pride and other downtown events. One commissioner asked whether the city would increase visible uniformed policing at intersections; Lando said traffic and special-events staff plan which intersections require officer staffing versus barricades and that the department’s crime analysts continuously monitor threats. "If we notice an increased threat, we will beef up our presence," he said, while also describing the department’s recent use of plainclothes officers at parades to avoid alarming attendees.
Attendees also raised concerns about threats to queer-owned businesses and nonprofits. Lando said he had not received specific recent, credible threats in Pittsburgh but urged community members to report even vague or social-media threats so the department can vet them and respond. When asked whether the bureau tracks hate crimes, Lando replied that the department does track hate-crime reports and analytics derived from filed police reports.
The commission asked the police chief to help design recruitment outreach—ride-along programs, adaptations of Citizens or Student Police Academy formats, and targeted events—to increase LGBTQIA+ representation in the force. Lando said he did not have exact diversity percentages at the meeting but estimated LGBTQIA+ representation is "less than 10%" and invited the commission to collaborate on recruitment ideas.
The commission and the chief agreed to exchange contact information and follow up: commissioners requested clearer pathways for reporting bias incidents that may not meet criminal thresholds, and Lando offered to coordinate with staff and the department’s analysts to respond to reported concerns.
The exchange closed with an invitation from the chief to meet individually with commissioners or community members who have specific threats or concerns, and a pledge to incorporate liaison and training input as the department develops its citywide approach.
