Good afternoon, and welcome to the pre-agenda interviews for Wednesday, January twenty eighth, two thousand twenty-six for the Chief of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police and for the Director of Public Safety.

Would a clerk please read the title of the bills?

Bill seventeen, resolution appointing Jason Lando as the chief of the Bureau of Pittsburgh Police in Bill number twenty.

Resolution appointing Sheldon Williams as a director of the Department of Public Safety.

And thank you very much.

And for the record, we are joined by Councilman Wilson, Councilman Coghill, Councilman Sharlin, Count Councilwoman Select.

And Councilwoman Warwick.

If you would both be willing to introduce yourself, give us a little bit of background about yourselves, and why you're interested in being willing to serve.

So first of all, thank you, Counsel, for giving me the opportunity to come and be interviewed for this.

Um a little bit about me, one is this um, as you've heard in our interviews for those that I had the opportunity to interview with.

Um my excitement for coming back is because my love to serve.

Um, I served in the military right out of high school.

Immediately following that, I started serving in public service.

Um, first as a paramedic and then as a police officer, cross-trained in various other aspects of public safety.

I think you're fully aware based off of what I have reported to you and also in my bio.

Took a retirement from uh Pittsburgh Police to continue serving in my community as a pastor and did that for twelve years at a fairly large church on the north side as it's focused towards community, not only in my ministerial responsibilities.

And then after filling a time that I had accomplished some of those ministerial goals, I started serving the act in academia, serving students to continue on with that.

So that common thread is who I am.

It's what I've done my whole life, and coming back in this role is a continuance of that service.

I look to serve the members of the public safety, the men and women who work in public safety in all the bureaus and all the department, my administration that I'm responsible for.

You've heard me say many times, or may have heard me say I'm the bridge.

I feel that I'm the bridge and the connected piece, both to our public safety sector, to the community, to the administration and our public safety sector, but also my responsibilities also to those elective officials as you all are, the bridge to that as well, and making sure that we're accomplishing the goals of public safety and that we that I fully onboard the load, bridging those components, making sure that I'm sharing that responsibility broadly, and we're accomplishing the goals that we need to accomplish.

So thank you again for allowing me to be here and to be interviewed, and I look forward to the opportunity.

Hey, good afternoon.

I actually uh prepared a few comments if that's that's okay.

Uh President Lavelle and members of council, uh first of all, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today.

Uh I'm deeply honored to have been nominated to serve as your next chief of police for the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police.

Uh, and I'm really grateful for the trust that has been placed in me by Mayor O'Connor and his team.

Uh returning to Pittsburgh and to the Bureau of Police feels very much like coming home for me.

As you already know, uh I'm a Pittsburgh kid.

Born and raised in the city and a proud graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, I served as a police officer so far for almost 26 years.

For 21 of those years, I've had the privilege of serving the people of Pittsburgh in a variety of roles, learning firsthand the values, the challenges, and the strengths that make the Pittsburgh community a unique one.

Leaving Pittsburgh in 2021 to become the chief of police in Frederick, Maryland was definitely bittersweet for me.

It was an amazing experience where I had an opportunity to build new and innovative programs and learn the intricacies of the police chief's role.

I would not trade anything for my time uh in Frederick, but in the end, it was not home.

Since returning to Pittsburgh several weeks ago, I've had an opportunity to reconnect with many of the dedicated people I worked with during my career here.

And we've already begun the important work of moving the Bureau of Police forward on a number of different fronts.

Downtown safety, responding to and supporting our unhoused population, rethinking how we respond to mental health emergencies in the community, and of course, those dreaded abandoned cars.

This work requires a leader who knows and is closely connected to the Pittsburgh community.

Throughout my career, I've worked hard to build strong, authentic, and trusting relationships with the communities I've served.

Those relationships have led to programs and initiatives designed to care for those in mental health crisis, engaging marginalized and underrepresented groups, building relationships with our youth, and ensuring that our police officers have the tools and the support they need to do their jobs with both professionalism and compassion.

Equally important to me has been a focus on police officer wellness and resiliency, and I know I had the chance to speak with all of you about that.

I firmly believe our officers cannot take care of this community if we are not taking care of them.

Supporting their mental health, their training, and their professional growth and development is not just optional, but it's essential.

As excited I am, as excited as I am for the future, I do feel the need to address an incident that occurred in the recent past.

Over the last two years, as you are aware, I was the target of uh relentless harassment from one of my former officers in Maryland.

After holding that officer accountable for his unacceptable behavior while he was still employed with the police department.

I ultimately responded to this former officer in a way that is out of character for me.

As you are aware, I was cleared of wrongdoing and the matter has been closed, but I still felt that it was important to address that here today.

I'm very proud of the reputation I've earned working closely with the community members and police officers, both in Pittsburgh and in Frederick.

However, I am human.

I do regret my mistake, and I can assure you that was a very unique situation.

Uh it was a first in my career, and I can also assure you it will not happen again.

Moving forward, if given the opportunity to serve as Pittsburgh's next chief of police, my priorities will be clear.

I will focus on reducing violent crime and quality of life issues that impact residents' sense of safety and well-being.

I will work to support staff wellness, accountability, and professional development at every level of the Bureau of Police.

And I will seek innovative and forward-thinking approaches to recruitment and retention so that we can continue to attract and retain dedicated professionals who reflect and understand the community they serve.

I'm proud of my roots in Pittsburgh, very proud of the profession I have chosen, and I'm committed to serving the city with integrity, humility, and transparency.

Further, I'm committed to Pittsburgh and to the Bureau of Police for the long term.

I left a pretty amazing job to come back home, and I did so because Pittsburgh is my home, and I do not intend on leaving the city anytime soon.