The union representing most Pittsburgh police officers says it will not negotiate a new contract with a top city official who has posted on social media comments about defunding the police.
In a letter dated Wednesday, union President Bob Swartzwelder told Mayor Ed Gainey he should appoint someone else to handle negotiations for the next contract in place of Chief Operating and Administrative Officer Lisa Frank. The current contract expires at the end of this year.
The letter cited what Swartzwelder called “horrible tweets” — though they appear to be Facebook posts — in calling for her removal from the talks.
In one post cited by Swartzwelder and dated June 2020, Frank wrote, “When we defund the police, cops who are ‘just here to help people’ will be out of work. Here are some helper jobs for them to consider: teacher, health care worker, fire fighter, bus driver, social worker, contact tracer, baker and maintainer of parks. You can tell these are helper jobs cause there’s no tear gas involved.”
A month earlier, she posted, “Why do we continue to fund these police departments? I am certain that Black and Brown communities could use the same resources to develop and fund real public safety for everyone.”
With a link to an article about police violence, Frank wrote, it was “time to abolish them,” apparently referring to police departments.
Swartzwelder included screenshots of several of her social media comments — which he said he found about from a local television station — in his letter to Gainey.
Cydney Cooper, a spokesperson for Gainey, in a written statement Thursday to TribLive said, “Our aim in these negotiations, as it was in the last round, is to reach an agreement that invests in officer recruitment, retention and well-being and continues to build a community-oriented police force that reduces crime and respects the rights of every Pittsburgh resident.”
Frank’s social media posts came as protests erupted nationwide in response to the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. A defund-the-police movement popularized at the time called for municipalities to limit the role of police and direct police funding to other public safety and violence prevention efforts.
In one comment, Frank wrote, “Yah I just can’t get that worked up about a little property damage when cops are killing Black people over and over and over and people — mainly Black people — protest over and over and over. A fire at a police station is like a footnote. Like spice on the main dish.”
“A plain reading of these tweets clearly indicates that the incremental defunding and staff reductions of the police department by your administration follow this strategic plan outlined by Ms. Frank in her very public tweets,” Swartzwelder wrote in his letter to Gainey.
In a written statement, Frank distanced herself from her posts.
“These are tweets from five years ago made at the height of the protests following the murder of George Floyd,” Frank wrote.
“Since then, and especially since beginning my service to the City of Pittsburgh, where I have had the opportunity to work closely with the Bureau of Police, my views have evolved in response to firsthand experience, as we’ve been able to rebuild trust through community policing and significantly reduce homicides and gun violence in our community.”
Frank worked for the SEIU union at the time she wrote the social media posts.
Pittsburgh had 42 homicides last year, down from 71 in 2022.
Frank helped broker current deal
Since taking office in 2022, Gainey has reduced the budgeted number of police officers from 900 to 800, reflecting the reality that the city was unable to recruit enough officers to hit the higher number.
The bureau remains shy of even the 800 budgeted, with 753 members as of Thursday.
Gainey implemented new police training classes within a year of taking office, following a pandemic-era hiring freeze, but has been unable to recruit new officers as quickly as existing officers resign and retire.
Swartzwelder, who has raised concerns about police staffing and instability in bureau leadership, did not respond Thursday to a request for comment.
The city in 2023 negotiated a new contract with police that avoided arbitration. Cooper credited Frank’s leadership for helping to reach that agreement.
But Swartzwelder in his message to the mayor said the union will begin planning for arbitration if Frank isn’t removed from negotiations now.
Featured Local Businesses
He wrote that the union “will not negotiate with a Mayoral designee who thinks so poorly of the police.”
‘She’s biased’
The 2023 contract — which the rank and file approved 572-13 — included pay raises and changes to handling officer discipline.
Gainey at the time said he believed the deal would help the city recruit and retain “the kind of officers that best represent Pittsburgh.”
Cooper touted the Gainey administration’s work to make Pittsburgh police wages more competitive with surrounding municipalities, launch multiple police recruitment classes each year, eliminate college credit requirements for new recruits and grow the Office of Community Health and Safety.
“In choosing our bargaining committee for the coming round of negotiations, we look to create the team that will allow us to build on this progress for officers and residents,” Cooper said.
The negotiations will be conducted by a “diverse and experienced committee” with people from the city’s public safety, law and management and budget departments. Police leadership will participate along with subject matter experts as needed, Cooper said.
Councilman Anthony Coghill, D-Beechview, who chairs the public safety committee, on Thursday said Frank should step down from her role in contract negotiations.
“Obviously she’s biased,” he said.