Pittsburgh City Council questions police chief nominee Jason Lando

PITTSBURGH — One of Corey O’Connor’s first decisions as mayor-elect was choosing a police chief.

On Wednesday, his choice, acting chief Jason Lando and Sheldon Williams, his nominee for public safety director, faced the city council.

We expected Jason Lando to face tough questions about allegations while serving as the police chief in Frederick, Maryland, but that never happened, likely because Lando brought it up first.

“I was the target of relentless harassment from one of my former officers in Maryland,” Lando said.

Even before the council asked any questions, Jason Lando addressed allegations that he sent anonymous, disparaging text messages to a former officer while serving as the police chief in Frederick, Maryland.

Lando never faced any charges and the Maryland state prosecutor closed the case.

“I’m human. I do regret my mistake.....and I can also assure you it will not happen again,” Lando said.

Council questioned the chief nominee under oath for the first time and implemented that after Larry Scirotto told them during his confirmation hearing that he was done officiating college basketball.

16 months later, Scirotto resigned and returned to referring basketball.

Lando told council he’s here for the long haul.

“I left a pretty amazing job to come back home and I did so because it’s my home and I do not intend on leaving the city any time soon,” Lando said.

Lando, who spent most of his career with Pittsburgh before leaving five years ago to become the chief in Frederick, said he plans to focus on officer wellness, retention and recruitment. He wants to improve safety downtown.

He also proposed the creation of multi-cultural liaisons who work with marginalized communities and he vowed officers will have limited duties if called to respond to federal ICE agents.

“We have a legal and moral obligation to respond, assess the situation and then get out of there as quickly as possible,” Lando said.

The council also questioned public safety director nominee Sheldon Williams.

They will vote on the nominees next week, and from the questions and comments on Tuesday, it appears both men will likely be confirmed.

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