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Pittsburgh City Council

Pittsburgh Police to launch leadership training after national review finds "a leadership issue here."

Written by Amy Whipple

 Pittsburgh’s Bureau of Police (PBP) is using an Indianapolis model to train its ranking officers how to lead.

 Council voted at the March 25 committee meeting to move forward with a request from the director of public safety to authorize a $20,000 Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency grant to provide police leadership training.

Zone Three Commander Jeff Abraham said the bureau went through a management assessment in 2024 from police departments across the country. “The biggest thing that they told us is that we have a leadership issue here,” he said. “It’s a lot of passing the buck.”

Police Chief Jason Lando said at his Jan. 28 interview with council, “I think morale, more than money, is one of the biggest things in policing that you need.”

In the past supervisors received brief, generalized training. This program, Abraham said, covers real-world scenarios such as how to supervise officers who are going through cancer treatment or who are in the media.

“All the scenarios that they’ve gone through, I’ve gone through as a supervisor,” he said.

Approximately 50 officers have gone through the training, but with 200 members of the department in supervisory positions, Abraham said, “It’s going to take a while to rebuild the culture of what we’re looking for in leadership here.”

The academy also offers training to police from the county and Duquesne University. Abraham said he hopes it will become a profitable operation in the future.

Connections to this story

Topics:
Public Safety & EMS
Governments:
Pittsburgh City Council
Public meetings:
City Council · March 24, 2026
Sources:
Resolution 2026-0252 — authorizing the Mayor and the Director of Public Safety to enter on behalf of the City of Pittsburgh into an Agreement…

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