Pittsburgh mayor looking into policies for undercover officers

PITTSBURGH — It's been two weeks since a fight between group of undercover police officers and members of the Pagans motorcycle club, and Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto is responding to complaints that the city Police Department didn't respond promptly.

Video from inside the bar shows the fight, and earlier this week Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala said that his office is waiting on critical information about the investigation.

"That's why I got cameras up and down Carson Street because I don't want to go through this nonsense," Zappala said.

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But Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto fired back Friday, saying police provided the information in a timely manner and he's not sure what the DA is talking about when he called out police management.

"I find his comments to be very unfortunate," Peduto said. "I think 48 hours is a fair amount of time."

That was in response to Zappala telling Channel 11 it took multiple requests to get all of the video and evidence, which Peduto said happened within 48 hours of his requesting it.

Peduto also questioned the use of force, as an undercover officer is seen on video punching a biker in the face more than 15 times.

"What I saw is troubling," Peduto said.

The video also shows the undercover officers drinking for nearly five hours.

Peduto said undercover officers may need to drink to blend in, but right now there's no policy in place on how much is too much.

"What is the proper amount of alcohol that somebody would be expected when doing undercover work like that to be able to properly respond," Peduto said.

Peduto told Channel 11 he asked the chief and the public safety director to explore how other departments handle drinking while on undercover duty and that the city will soon have a written

Cox Media Group