PITTSBURGH — The President of the Pittsburgh NAACP is speaking out Monday, after calling for a public meeting on the city’s next police chief.
The group sent a letter to Mayor Ed Gainey and the Pittsburgh City Council over the weekend, demanding a delay in the confirmation of Chris Ragland.
Channel 11′s Chief Investigative Reporter Rick Earle broke the story on Saturday and sat down with Pittsburgh NAACP President Daylon Davis on Monday.
Davis says the public should have a chance to meet the next chief and even question him about his vision for the future of the department. He’s calling for at least one community meeting.
“This is just an opportunity to introduce acting Chief Ragland to the public for those who may not know him,” Daylon said. “I think there should be an open process, especially because we know the difficulties of the last chief of police that left, you know some of the issues that were raised and just making sure city council and the administration is addressing some of those concerns before bringing on somebody new to the position.”
In November, former chief Larry Scirotto abruptly retired after only 17 months on the job after 11 Investigates broke the story that he had returned to officiating college basketball, after telling city council at his confirmation hearing that he would not referee while serving as the chief.
To address the concerns, the council recently approved a change that allows them to question the new chief under oath.
“We will have legal recourse and at least save the taxpayers of the City of Pittsburgh the extra pension fund that we are on the hook for,” Anthony Coghill said.
Despite concerns from other officers and some councilmembers, Mayor Gainey offered his full support to Ragland, praising him for his effort to address crime Downtown.
“He was second in command and he did a lot of the work. He deserves the opportunity to run the bureau. I have faith in him,” Gainey said.
Gainey did not address the call by the NAACP to delay the confirmation for a community meeting.
Davis said he has spoken with some councilmembers, and they are on board. Davis is also scheduled to speak with the mayor.
Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW
©2025 Cox Media Group
