PITTSBURGH — Big changes are coming after our exclusive reporting from 11 Investigates raised serious concerns about police recruit testing in the City of Pittsburgh.
Our report earlier this week called into question the psychological part of the process after more than two dozen recruits were eliminated.
The Mayor and the Public Safety Director aren’t happy about how this process played out.
And now they are bringing in a new psychologist, and those recruits who were eliminated will now get a second chance.
>> 11 Investigates Exclusive: Black Pittsburgh police recruits eliminated after psychological testing
“It’s a big concern. That’s why we started doing some due diligence to find out what we needed to do,” said Mayor Ed Gainey.
Mayor Gainey and Public Safety Director Lee Schmidt confirmed today that a new psychologist will be brought in and all 26 police recruit candidates who failed the interviews will now be given another chance.
“We want to ensure that our processes are fair and equitable, but we also want to make sure we do get the right people in those positions,” said Schmidt.
Earlier this week, 11 Investigates told you that the majority of African American candidates in the upcoming academy class had been eliminated.
We learned today a significant number of white candidates also failed the psychological interviews.
Some raised concerns about the line of questioning about their ages and whether they own or rent their homes.
“When you are asking about anything to do with finances, I mean it’s well known that that leads to biased results just because of the legacy of Jim Crow,” said Vic Walczak, of the American Civil Liberties Union in Pittsburgh.
Earle: Are you concerned when you heard some of the questions being asked of those potential recruits?
Schmidt: We’re working through that. We have to look through even just what we ask them during the polygraph and some other exams as well to make sure it’s appropriate.
The Public Safety Director and the Police Chief are now reviewing the entire testing process.
“We have to make sure there’s no bias in the process whether that’s around race whether that’s around background...etc.,” said Schmidt.
“I couldn’t believe it. I was heartbroken. I was heartbroken,” said an African American recruit who had been turned away last year after the psychological interviews.
She didn’t want to be identified but passed all of the requirements only to be eliminated after the psychological interviews. She said today she’s pleased the city is making changes.
“I’m glad they’re opening the doors,” she said.
She also said she’s on the fence about giving it a second chance.
That new academy class was supposed to start on May 6, but 26 of the 32 candidates were eliminated. It’s now been delayed until May 20 to give the recruits time to complete the interviews with a new psychologist.
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