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Updated 21 minutes ago
Pittsburgh on Thursday honored its African-American public safety personnel, past and present, with a what Mayor Bill Peduto described as a celebration of “great Pittsburghers who took great strides.”
First responders and dignitaries gathered in the lobby of the City-County Building, Downtown, in recognition of Black History Month.
Peduto bestowed certificates of recognition on fire Chief Darryl Jones, the city's first black chief, and Maurita Bryant, who was one of the few black female police officers in the department when she started in 1977. Bryant, 64, retired from the city Police Bureau and now serves as assistant Allegheny County Police superintendent.
“I am not a ground breaker,” said Jones, 56, who started as a firefighter 31 years ago in Aliquippa. “I am a beneficiary of people who came before me and broke ground.”
The Public Safety Department has continually struggled to reach a minority makeup that mirrors Pittsburgh's population, which is 26 percent black. Residents and officials have complained for years about a lack of diversity among public safety ranks.
The city in 2015 settled a lawsuit with the American Civil Liberties Union for just under $1.6 million in which five black plaintiffs alleged discriminatory police hiring practices.
Pittsburgh has 305,000 residents, according to the U.S. Census, but the number of black public safety personnel falls well below 26 percent.
Black officers represent 14 percent of the Police Bureau, 8 percent of the Fire Bureau and 9 percent of Emergency Medical Services, according to the Pittsburgh Personnel Department.
Peduto's administration has stepped up efforts to try and attract more black applicants for public safety jobs.
“As we look at today and the challenges that we face we know that we can look back to this city and see the examples of courageous people who have been able to do the right thing and against the tides of impossibility,” Peduto said. “It's upon all of us to be able to do the same for the next generation.”
The city has stepped up efforts to try and attract more black applicants for public safety jobs.
In 2015, it teamed with the Pittsburgh Public School District in creating a Emergency Response Technology program at predominately black Westinghouse High School in Homewood.
Tenth-graders from across the district are eligible to enroll in the three-year program teaching students how to operate a fire truck, write police reports and administer first aid, among other curriculum.
Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich said community outreach officers in the police and emergency services bureaus continuously feature recruitment efforts in neighborhoods and schools and the Personnel Department is recruiting in communities across the region.
He said the A&E reality TV series Nightwatch plans to begin filming this year in Pittsburgh, featuring police, fire and EMS officers. He said the exposure would help drive recruitment.
“They're going to profile what it's like to be a police officer, firefighter or paramedic in the city of Pittsburgh,” he said. “One of the requests we have is it has to be a diverse cast.”
Bob Bauder is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 412-765-2312 or bbauder@tribweb.com.
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