SOCIAL JUSTICE
The invisible victims of police violence—black mothers
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The effects of racism and police violence are far-reaching when it comes to black mothers’ mental, emotional and physical health, according to peer-reviewed research.
SOCIAL JUSTICE
Photos: Activists demand justice for Antwon Rose Jr., an unarmed black teen killed by an East Pittsburgh police officer
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Update (June 27, 2018): The Allegheny County District Attorney's Office charged East Pittsburgh Police officer Michael Rosfeld with criminal homicide in Antwon Rose Jr.'s death. His bail was set for $250,000 by a magisterial district judge. The DA's office said in a statement that they believe setting bail was "improper" because statute indicates that anyone charged with a crime that could result in life in prison is not entitled to bail. However, DA spokesman Mike Manko said the office does "not plan on contesting it at this time." PublicSource reporter Jeffrey Benzing live-tweeted the DA's press conference on Wednesday morning.
B-THREE SOLUTIONS
Exclusive: Internal city investigation cleared two Pittsburgh employees yet uncovered problems with police tech, federal grant handling
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Pittsburgh city employees bungled police software projects, inefficiently managed federal funds and questionably favored a software contractor, according to an internal report obtained by PublicSource.
PUBLIC SAFETY
Pittsburgh has an independent board to review police misconduct. These residents want to create one that covers the county.
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“Due to gentrification, black people who previously lived in the city are now moving to the boroughs, and we need to be able to address allegations of police brutality and misconduct at the borough level.”
B-THREE SOLUTIONS
A whistleblower suit alleged problems with police tech. Now Pittsburgh’s chief confirms three key systems, paid in full, were never implemented
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Pittsburgh Police Chief Scott Schubert confirmed Wednesday for the first time that three police software systems the city paid for have never been implemented. Those systems are the same ones named in a recent whistleblower lawsuit as having been paid for and allegedly never finished.
PUBLIC SAFETY
From Wilkinsburg to Harrisburg, citizens and lawmakers alike discuss issue of arming school employees
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Pennsylvania State Rep. Ed Gainey fears he’d be shot dead during a mass shooting if he were a gym teacher armed to protect a school. In that scenario, he imagines being seen by a police officer who doesn’t know him, who only sees an unknown black man with a gun, and wrongly pulls the trigger.
B-THREE SOLUTIONS
Pittsburgh’s police chief urges city council to fund a controversial IT firm. Now, council has to decide.
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Pittsburgh Police Chief Scott Schubert made the rounds to city council members last week to ease concerns over a proposed half-million dollar allocation to B-Three Solutions, a software contractor one of his officers raised concerns about in a recent whistleblower lawsuit.
PUBLIC SAFETY
Why the debate about school safety and increased security may exacerbate the school-to-prison pipeline
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The Feb. 14 killing of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County, Fla., has reignited a visceral, decades-old debate over how to keep students safe when a gunman enters a campus to take lives.
PublicSource Investigation
Pittsburgh refuses to release city emails about disputed police IT projects to PublicSource
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Using the state’s Right-to-Know Law, designed to enable citizens to access public records, PublicSource filed requests for emails by providing names of city employees, keywords and a time period to enable the city to locate the public records. The city has repeatedly denied the requests, arguing that they’re too vague.
PublicSource Investigation
How the Pittsburgh police bureau’s work with an IT company escaped city oversight for more than a decade
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Some members of city council struggle to recall B-Three Solutions or what the company has done for the city. B-Three has been commissioned to build the police bureau’s flagship data system and several related projects along with programs for the Department of Finance and the Department of Permits, Licenses and Inspections. The city has paid B-Three about $4.3 million since late 2009.