Police reform legislation regarding officer misconduct goes into effect

PITTSBURGH — While police reform remains a hotly debated topic nationwide, in Pennsylvania policing officially changed today with officers now being held accountable for misconduct at previous departments.

A new database went live requiring police departments statewide to share misconduct and disciplinary records of officers, which can be accessed by other departments when they are hiring officers.

During a news conference in the Strip District, Attorney General Josh Shapiro called it a down payment on police reform.

“We believe this database will save lives,” Shapiro said. “They should not be allowed to go from department to department and misconduct records need to follow those officers.”

Among those pushing for the database is Michelle Kenney, the mother of Antwon Rose. The 17-year-old was killed in 2018 by an East Pittsburgh police officer who had several incidents of alleged misconduct at a previous job.

“We will no longer have to worry about an officer being relocated into your neighborhood when you know he took a life in the neighborhood next to yours,” Kenney said.

It’s a change that also has the support of Pittsburgh Police Chief Scott Schubert, who says he will now have a fuller picture before hiring a new officer.

“There’s no chief that’s frustrated more than when someone retires before we can terminate them. The lack of being able to share information with other police departments for fear of liability, this takes that all off the table,” Schubert said.

Shapiro said he hopes this will be the first step in more thorough reform statewide. Ultimately, that will be in the hands of the legislature.

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