Peduto promises reform
Touts policies but says ‘more must be done’
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto on Thursday issued a statement praising his administration’s civil rights policies and promising reform in response to nationwide protests against police brutality.
The statement comes after nearly two weeks of protests in the Pittsburgh region following the death of George Floyd, a black man who was killed while in police custody in Minneapolis.
“George Floyd is not a moment,” Mr. Peduto wrote. “He was a man with family and loved ones. His inexcusable death has motivated our communities to demonstrate the grief, trauma and pain that our black communities are consistently exposed to. We must listen.”
The mayor pointed to his administration’s efforts at prioritizing equity and investing in minority- and women-owned businesses, as well as the city’s required implicit-bias training for employees.
“While these are important steps for our city, it’s clear that more must be done,” Mr. Peduto said, adding the city will collect “better racial and demographic
data” to determine who is being neglected.
Current data shows black people in Pittsburgh have a significantly lower quality of life than in other similar cities, according to a 2019 study from the city’s Gender Equity Commission.
Fetal and infant mortality, maternal health, education, and career attainment are much worse for black Pittsburghers than in other cities around the nation, the report found. Poverty for black women and black children is higher here than in 85% of comparable cities; black men face higher rates of occupational segregation, homicide, cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Mr. Peduto addressed some of these issues in his statement, saying, “[W]hen the color of your skin in this city and this country determines whether or not you will survive childbirth, or makes you significantly more likely to develop health problems, or controls how likely you are to get employment let alone upperlevel management or leadership positions — we’re not protecting all of our neighbors.
“When people in our city fear our civil servants and officers — we’re not protecting all of our neighbors.”
While most of the protests in the area have remained peaceful, at least two ended with clashes between police and protesters, with protesters blaming authorities for escalating the situations.
One conflict in East Liberty led Mr. Peduto to call for a “full, third-party” investigation into the police’s actions after officers fired tear gas, smoke and “less-lethal” projectiles into a crowd on Centre Avenue.
Chief Scott Schubert, alongside Mr. Peduto in a news conference, initially said police only used smoke on protesters in East Liberty, while later statements by police and evidence from witnesses contradicted that statement and revealed tear gas was used.
Police fired munitions after the protest was declared an unlawful assembly and said protesters began to throw rocks and bottles at officers. That sequence of events has been disputed by protesters, many of whom said the police fired on a peaceful crowd.
Mr. Peduto called on the city to work together for “all of our neighbors. Especially our black neighbors who need our support right now.”
“Reform doesn’t happen overnight and we don’t have all the answers right now, but the work has begun and we will continue to work directly with our communities to create a city that’s livable for all,” Mr. Peduto wrote in his statement. “Black neighbors, residents, partners — we hear you. Your voice is important and necessary to rebuilding.”