The undercover Pittsburgh police detectives involved in an October 2018 bar brawl with a motorcycle gang will remain on the force but will be reassigned, city officials announced Tuesday.
Mayor Bill Peduto and Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich said other changes are being put into place in response to the fight, but they provided few specifics on them.
They announcement comes two weeks after Peduto and Hissrich said changes would be coming.
Jason Lando, who had been a commander in Zone 5, now heads up the Narcotics and Vice Division of the department. Lando began his new role Monday. Commander Reyne Kacsuta had headed the Narcotics and Vice Division. Kacsuta is now the commander in Zone 2. The moves were part of a shuffling of command staff announced June 26.
The police department is also implementing new guidelines for undercover work and have added more supervisors in the division.
No criminal charges were filed against detectives David Honick, David Lincoln, Brian Burgunder and Brian Martin for their role in the brawl, which was investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s office, the District Attorney’s office and the city’s Office of Municipal Investigations, the statement noted.
The detectives were working an undercover detail at Kopy’s bar on the South Side when an argument between the detectives and members of the Pagans motorcycle gang escalated into a brawl that was recorded by security cameras inside the bar. The video showed an officer punching one of the Pagans 19 times in the head.
The Pagans have filed a lawsuit against the city.
Spokesmen for the mayor’s office and public safety department declined further comment about the matter.
Earlier the city was prepared to fire the officers involved in the Kopy’s fight until this new information came to light.
“I can say that I am concerned over the overall operation at narcotics and vice, and this one event is not a solitary event, which is why we are taking the time to investigate thoroughly,” Mayor Bill Peduto said.
One of the other events Peduto is referring to was a drug investigation at a strip club where officers ran up a bill of nearly $3,000 during two nights.
Several of the officers who returned to the station after that operation were told by a supervisor not to drive because they’d had too much to drink.
Peduto said he understands the need to blend in when at a bar but said the department needs to have a policy about drinking too much.
He also said the city is looking at the undercover officers and their supervisors.
“We have had continual meetings about this, and not only that, but continual conversations with everyone involved, not just the officers that were there that night, but those that command them. We want to be able to look at this as a learning opportunity so we don’t make the same mistake twice,” he said.