11 Investigates is learning brand new information about the release of police bodycam video that was used to identify a handful of Pittsburgh police officers.
The video demanded their firing for assisting ICE agents and was posted to social media.
As Channel 11 reported exclusively on Saturday, the police union wants to know why and how the video was released.
Chief Investigator Rick Earle learned the city signed an agreement with the district attorney’s office about a decade ago that essentially paved the way for the release of certain bodycam video like this, as long as it’s not part of any criminal investigation.
The bodycam video posted by the Steel City Anti-Fascist League to social media identifies several Pittsburgh police officers by name and demands their firing for assisting federal ICE agents during an operation in Mt. Washington back in December.
While the videos show some officers mocking people critical of ICE, most of them are seen just standing around.
Chief Jason Lando has said it’s their duty to respond to these emergency calls to make sure everyone is OK.
Mayor Corey O’Connor, who has repeatedly said officers won’t be assisting ICE agents, expressed concern about the release of the bodycam video.
“We are looking into how that video was released, but obviously we want to make sure officers are protected and safe and we don’t want private information to be out there,” O’Connor said.
11 Investigates has learned the district attorney’s office received a right-to-know request for the bodycam video and released it after determining it was not evidence in a criminal case, does not contain sensitive details relating to an investigation and does not depict criminal conduct.
The DA’s office added that it’s also part of the agreement signed with the city in 2017 and covered by Act 22 of the General Assembly, which governs the release of certain police video.
The head of the police union, in a letter to the city officials over the weekend blasting the release, saying some social media postings have now revealed officers’ home addresses.
“This has exposed those police officers to threats and significant public ridicule,” the letter said.
Executive Director of the Citizen Police Review Board, Beth Pittinger, agrees with the police union president.
“It’s very dangerous for everyone, particularly for the families of those public officials, of police officers and their neighbors and the neighborhood. It’s very, very dangerous,” Pittinger said.
The police union president also expressed concern that neither he nor any of the officers were told that the video was being released. He said the union is now evaluating its options so this does not happen again.
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