Pittsburgh police officer who faces multiple inquiries is no longer employed by city

A Pittsburgh police officer with a problematic past is no longer a member of the force.

City and police union officials Tuesday confirmed that Officer Paul Abel, who is the subject of multiple inquiries, no longer holds his job — though authorities have not disclosed the reason.

“He is not currently an employee of the city of Pittsburgh,” said Dan Gilman, the mayor’s chief of staff.

Mr. Gilman said he could not specify the date on which Officer Abel’s employment ended. He declined to comment on the reason.

Robert Swartzwelder, Fraternal Order of Police Fort Pitt Lodge 1 president, also confirmed that Mr. Abel no longer has his job.

“The union will comment only as to, yes, that’s correct. He is no longer a city of Pittsburgh employee right now. The union is appealing the city’s termination of Officer Abel through the arbitration process,” he said.

When asked for the reason, Mr. Swartzwelder said, “I cannot comment unless the city tells you why. Now I want to make that very clear because I don’t like to be quoted in the newspaper as ‘no comment.’”

The former officer is the subject of an Office of Municipal Investigations inquiry into a September arrest at a Squirrel Hill farmers market.

The Citizen Police Review Board also is reviewing the farmers market arrest, which began when a 22- year- old man approached Officer Abel, who was working an off-duty shift for the city’s Special Events department, and asked him about his face mask depicting the “thin blue line” version of the American flag.

The review board also is examining another arrest made by Officer Abel in December 2019, an official from the review board confirmed.

Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich, whose department oversees the Bureau of Police, declined to specify the reason for Mr. Abel’s departure, saying that he is “bound by the collective bargaining agreement on

that.”

Just over a decade ago, Mr. Abel ran into legal trouble.

He was arrested in 2008 after he allegedly pistol-whipped a man in the back of the head with his firearm near a bar on the South Side while he was off duty. The gun then went off, wounding the man in his hand.

Officer Abel was charged with aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and driving under the influence due to the incident and was suspended without pay from the force.

He was cleared of all charges in June 2009 by Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey A. Manning, and his job was later reinstated after arbitration.