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pghpoliceproblem · 4 years
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A list of known examples of police brutality and corruption in the Pittsburgh, PA area:
August 2019: Off duty cop drives drunk and hits a bicyclist, then drives away.
January 2020: Verona (suburb in Allegheny Country) police officer exchanged pornographic images with a 16 year old boy.
August 2017: Pittsburgh police officer aims a loaded gun at someone in a fit of “road rage”. Two years later he got his job back, plus back pay.
September 2019: A police officer in Washington County (southwest of Pittsburgh) sexually assaults a woman in a police vehicle while on duty. He lured her with promises of advice on becoming a cop and helping her loved one with addiction.
January 2010: Three undercover cops in an unmarked car brutally beat a black teenage boy for no reason besides “looking suspicious”. He was walking home from school.
September 2016: A Pittsburgh police officer brutally beats up a drunk person at a high school football game. The officer had used more force than necessary 56 times in the previous year.
June 2018: An East Pittsburgh police officer shoots unarmed black 17 year old Antwon Rose in the back three times. He is later acquitted.
November 2013: Pittsburgh police wrongfully arrest and detain a black teacher for 12 hours because he said “wow” after almost being hit by their car.
November 2012: Pittsburgh police officer leaps into 19 year old Leon Ford’s car despite Leon being innocent and complying. Police shoot Ford in the spine, permanently paralyzing him. Ford was arrested and spent months in the hospital handcuffed to the bed while recovering. None of the officers involved were convicted and they kept their jobs on the force.
February 2012: Pittsburgh Police officer Adam Skweres is charged with sexually extorting multiple women and attempting to rape at least one other woman.
2012: Pittsburgh police use excessive force on a 16 year old boy who was smashing Halloween pumpkins. As of February 2020, the police force has refused to pay the settlement which was awarded to the victim in 2017.
August 2016: Pittsburgh Police use excessive force and allow their K-9 unit to bite an innocent bystander who did not match the description of the crim they were investigating.
August 2002: The ACLU slams Pittsburgh Police and the city for deliberately delaying misconduct complaints, including the public strip search of an infant.
August 2017: Pittsburgh police are shes for terrorizing students at Woodland Hills Highschool, knocking out their teeth and tasering them while already having them pinned to the floor.
June 2018: Pittsburgh police use a stun gun on a 12 year old black child and handcuff him. This occurs on the same night that Antwon Rose is killed by police.
July 2019: Pittsburgh police initially decline to arrest a white man who assaults and forcefully detains a 13 year old black child.
2014-2017: A Mount Pleasant (suburb east of Pittsburgh) police officer is charged for raping multiple women.
2011: A Connelsville (suburb of Pittsburgh) police officer is charged for multiple instances of rape, including corruption of a minor.
2004: Cranberry Township (suburb north of Pittsburgh) police accuse a pregnant teenage rape victim of fabricating her assault and arrest her for false reporting. The attacker is later caught and confesses to the crime.
February 2020: Elizabeth borough (right outside of Pittsburgh) police officer forges another officer’s psychological exam which had expired.
December 2019: Pittsburgh police officer pulls a 15 year old black girl’s hair while restraining her on a school bus, jolting her head backward
October 2009: Pittsburgh police call on the FBI to arrest a man who simply alerted folks on twitter to a dispersal order during the 2009 G20 protests.
2016: Activists speak out because Port Authority Police are basically a shadow government that has full arrest powers and jurisdiction from city proper all the way out to Westmoreland and Butler counties. They have a high arrest rate compared to all surrounding police forces. They have no available annual reports or audits despite arresting thousands of people per year, while also killing and brutalizing folks. All investigations are done internally.
Fall 2018: Undercover Pittsburgh Police drunkenly start a huge bar fight. One officer sprays pepper spray indiscriminately around the entire bar. They were never charged and simply moved to different positions on the force.
June 2020: Pittsburgh police arrest two women who legally filmed them brutalizing peaceful protesters. Police claim the women threw water bottles at them despite no evidence proving this.
2010-2015: 57% of police use of force incidents were on black people. Only 1/4 of Pittsburgh’s population is black.
2015: The Pittsburgh Police force was sued for purposely denying black applicants jobs.
June 2020: Pittsburgh Police use excessive force and chemical weapons on hundred of peaceful protesters. The police and mayor lie about use of tear gas despite video evidence.
2019: It is discovered that The Pittsburgh VA Police utilized a law meant to discipline corrupt executives to harass and fire low-level employees, many of which were disabled veterans.
2010: Green Tree (suburb of Pittsburgh) Police Chief hires sex workers, has sex with them, then immediately arrests them.
1995: Pittsburgh area police pinned a handcuffed man to the ground, applying pressure to his head and neck, which asphyxiated him to death. This was a full 25 years before the similar death of George Floyd.
2013: Former Pittsburgh chief of police found guilty of diverting more than $70,000 into unauthorized personal accounts.
December 2002: Police in a Pittsburgh suburb shot and killed a 12 year old black boy in the back. No real explanation for the incident was released.
November 2019: Elizabeth Borough (suburb of Pittsburgh) Police Chief steals heroin from the evidence room. He only gets probation.
2011: Seven guards from the State Correctional Institution Pittsburgh are arrested for rape, assault, intimidation and more. One guard is indicted on 92 counts.
2018: Allegheny County Jail violates at least three standards of the Prison Rape Elimination Act.
August 2015: Allegheny County Jail gets audited after a high rate of inmate deaths, including refusing medication to an inmate with a seizure disorder. Despite many violations, the jail is never penalized.
May 2020: Pittsburgh Police officers are overpaid $250,000 by accident. Police Union Leader claims to be unaware and hasnt paid it back.
January 2014: Pittsburgh SWAT team enters wrong apartment, traumatizing young children and costing taxpayers $80,000 in settlement fees.
September 2007: Pittsburgh Police Union Boss refuses to implement process to address officers accused of domestic violence. Calls it “cop-bashing” even though three accused cops got promotions.
September 2013: Off duty Pittsburgh police officer shoots and kills his own friend in a drunken argument.
2008: Pittsburgh police officer drives drunk and pistol whips an innocent person, his gun going off and shooting the victim. He is also accused of pressuring his wife to file a false report against her ex husband.
January 2011: Northern Regional Police (north suburbs of Pittsburgh) unreasonably detain a legal citizen, threaten to deport her. Costing taxpayers $175k in settlement costs.
November 2016: Pittsburgh police union votes “no confidence” in police chief because he supported black lives matter and wanted to address racism in the police force.
April 2010: A jail guard at Allegheny County Jail brutally beat an inmate. Jail leaders protected the abuser but fired employees who attempted to speak out.
2019: An article about truly horrific conditions at Allegheny County Jail is released.
2012: Pittsburgh Police officer demoted and transferred because she took out a PFA on her abusive husband who was a fellow officer.
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