Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is one of six pilot sites employing strategies, examining policies, and developing evidence through research to reduce implicit bias, enhance procedural justice, and promote racial reconciliation.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is one of six pilot sites employing strategies, examining policies, and developing evidence through research to reduce implicit bias, enhance procedural justice, and promote racial reconciliation. The city was selected as a pilot site for its demonstrated willingness and capacity to engage in the National Initiative’s research, intervention, and evaluation process, as well as its jurisdiction size and demographic composition.
As of August 2018, the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police has administered the following trainings:
All new recruits continue to receive these trainings.
The Pittsburgh Bureau of Police has also provided procedural justice training to officers from the Port Authority of Allegheny County, training 47 officers in Procedural Justice I and 60 officers in Procedural Justice II & III.
PBP offers two community-facing trainings, one on the basics of procedural justice and one on understanding implicit bias. To learn more about these trainings, click here.
To read the 2018 status report for Pittsburgh, please click here.
If you would like to read the 2017 report for Pittsburgh, you can find it here.
In a concrete step toward improved transparency and accountability, the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police is consistently adding its departmental policies to its Police Policies and Procedural Manual webpage.
Scott Schubert, Chief of Police
A first site visit in April 2015 brought together interested residents and community groups at the Kingsley Association to participate in a community convening to discuss the National Initiative project. At this convening, the National Initiative introduced the goals and strategies of the project and explained how community members can participate directly.
The National Initiative team also met with city leaders, representatives from the police department, and prosecutors to discuss the role of criminal justice practitioners in this historic initiative.
Below are some items that the National Initiative and Pittsburgh have produced so far.
National Initiative Research Forum: January, 2016
National Initiative partners were in Pittsburgh, PA on January 13 for a research forum at Duquesne University. The forum convened the Pittsburgh region's research community as well as law enforcement and other interested parties to discuss and identify actionable research agendas that correspond to the National Initiative and are especially salient to Pittsburgh.
Second Site Visit Agenda: September, 2015
The National Initiative visited Pittsburgh in September 2015 to review elements of the implementation plan and continue strategy planning for moving forward with Stockton's process. During this visit, National Initative partners met with law enforcement and community leaders from various groups to discuss our work in Pittsburgh.
As part of the National Initiative’s commitment to evaluating the effectiveness of its interventions, the Urban Institute surveyed residents from Pittsburgh’s highest-crime neighborhoods regarding their perceptions of and attitudes toward criminal activity and the police department. The surveys were conducted through face-to-face interviews in fall 2015.
The implementation plan for Pittsburgh contains information regarding trainings in procedural justice and implicit bias as well as initial assessments of key stakeholders' attitudes going into the reconciliation process. The document goes into detail regarding unique interventions and what certain of these processes entail.
First Site Visit Agenda: May, 2015
The National Initiative's first site visit to Pittsburgh came in May 2015 when partners met to begin laying the foundation for the work that will take place over the next three years. The schedule included broader agenda setting with representatives from various groups and organizations as well as breakout meetings for smaller groups to discuss the strategy going forward.
