Pittsburgh appeals reinstatement of officer fired in Jim Rogers case
The city of Pittsburgh is appealing the reinstatement of an officer originally fired two years ago in connection with the death of a man he hit with a Taser at least 10 times in less than five minutes.
In March, a neutral arbitrator ruled that Officer Keith Edmonds should be reinstated to his post with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police with full back pay, a decision that the city’s representative in the arbitration process called a “gross mischaracterization, obfuscation, and abandonment of law.”
Rogers died Oct. 14, 2021, after he fell unconscious in the back of a police cruiser after he was arrested in Bloomfield. Officer Edmonds was fired March 24, 2022, a decision he appealed through Fraternal Order of Police, the union representing city officers.
The arbitration process includes a neutral arbitrator and one partisan representative from each side — in this case, Juan Rivera for the city and union President Bob Swartzwelder for Officer Edmonds.
The appeal filed by the city lists the neutral arbitrator as Marc Winters. Two hearings took place before Mr. Winters issued his decision, which, in order to be accepted, must receive a concurring opinion from at least one of the partisan representatives. In this case, Mr. Swartzwelder concurred with Mr. Winters’ ruling that Officer Edmonds should be reinstated with full back pay and benefits.
The city had argued that Officer Edmonds violated myriad policies in his encounter with Rogers, including policies related to warrantless searches and seizures, de-escalation, use of deadly force, neglect of duty, handling of prisoners, and use of pepper aerosol restraint spray.
But Mr. Winters, in his ruling, wrote that while Officer Edmonds might not have followed every policy to the letter, he didn’t violate them. He said each policy includes language that offers officers discretion based on the situation.
Plus, he said, in some instances, inadequate training was to blame rather than Officer Edmonds’ conduct.
In his dissent, Mr. Rivera called the decision “not only disappointing, but a true abandonment of all semblance of law and jurisprudence.”
“Edmonds repeatedly testified he violated the policies, to Jim Rogers’ peril,” he wrote. “But, according to the panel, that’s not enough.”
The city’s appeal cites eight reasons that Mr. Winters’ ruling should be thrown out, including the contention that he was “acting outside of his authority by deciding an issue that was not before him — the adequacy of [Officer Edmonds’] training.”
In deciding that not following policies to the strictest letter was not cause for termination, the panel eviscerates the city’s right to enforce its own policies, Mr. Rivera wrote.
The city settled a federal lawsuit with Rogers’ estate last year for $8 million.
The day of the incident, Officer Edmonds was dispatched to Harriet Street after someone called 911 to report that a man might have been trying to steal a bicycle from a porch. Some neighbors, however, later would contend the bike was left outside and was free for the taking.
Video released earlier this year by an attorney for Rogers’ family showed the officer’s interactions with Rogers.
The video shows the officer deploying his Taser around 10 times as more officers arrived on scene. Rogers appeared to become more disoriented and, while he tried twice to run away, he otherwise remained sitting or on his hands and knees.
Rogers was ultimately taken into custody and sat for 17 minutes in the back of a police cruiser, often screaming, banging his head, and shouting that he couldn’t breathe. He wasn’t breathing by the time he arrived at UPMC Mercy about 45 minutes after the original 911 call.