PITTSBURGH _ Two Pittsburgh offices are working to determine whether Pittsburgh Police Chief Cameron McLay broke any rules when he spoke last week at the Democratic National Convention.
The chief asked the Office of Municipal Investigations and the independent Citizen Police Review Board to review his speech, according to a news release from the city.
The city's police union criticized the chief, saying it thought that he had broken an ordinance that says officers are not permitted to "campaign for a candidate for any office or for a ballot issue while on duty, while wearing a uniform or while on city property" or while identifying as police bureau employee.
McLay appeared last Tuesday in uniform on stage at the convention in Philadelphia to discuss recent shootings of and by police, community relations and criminal justice reform.
"While I interpret the code differently, I strongly believe I must be accountable to all relevant laws and city policies. In order to ensure the integrity of my accountability systems are not compromised by member perceptions that the rules are not being evenly applied, I gladly offer my willingness to have OMI and CPRB conduct investigations into my conduct relative to the Democratic National Convention," McLay said in the news release.
Officer Robert Swartzwelder, the police union president, said Monday afternoon that the investigations are a waste.
"I would say you're wasting a lot of money and time and effort ... " Swartzwelder said. "First of all, he went there with permission of the mayor, obviously ... He's the only one that can discipline the chief. So why are you wasting a bunch of OMI investigators' time and effort and money when the mayor's already come out publicly saying there's no wrongdoing?"
Asked what should happen if an OMI investigation finds that the chief violated the municipal code, Officer Swartzwelder said, "The code calls for the penalty of being removed from office. That's what it states clearly."
The exact wording of the code, under the section "Dismissal for Violation," reads: "Violation of any provision of this chapter shall constitute grounds for dismissal."
"The discipline system has been corrupted," Swartzwelder said. "How do you hold anybody accountable for violations of standards of conduct if at the highest level we can violate the standards of conduct and there are no repercussions?"
The Citizens Police Review Board is an advisory body. Last week, Beth Pitttinger, the board's executive director, told WTAE-TV: "I was, frankly, surprised when I saw him come out on stage in full uniform. I didn't expect that. So stringently, yes, you could say it was a violation ... Was a greater good served here? I believe so. Was it a technical violation? Probably so."
Swartzwelder took issue with Pittinger's statement regarding the "greater good."
"I didn't know that's how we evaluate police conduct," he said.
