Politics & Government

Agreement, Statement Resolve Some Police Issues in Dormont

Trespassing charge against borough manager dropped, police officer demoted.

UPDATES with comment from police union attorney.

A trespassing charge against Dormont Manager Gino Rizza for entering the borough police station will be dropped and James Burke, who cited Rizza, has been demoted from sergeant to patrolman instead of being fired as part of an agreement reached Thursday.

A related statement from the police union acknowledges the manager is permitted in the police department and acknowledges powers and limitations of the mayor and council’s authority.

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“… Council has the ultimate authority to hire and discipline its officers” and the mayor “has no authority to ‘reinstate’ an employee who has been placed on administrative leave, suspended, discharged or otherwise disciplined by borough council,” the statement said.

"This is a big step to make things right in the borough of Dormont," Rizza said.

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"I don't know if the mayor is getting misinformation and overstepping his authority, but council has the ultimate control of the borough and the police union has acknowledged that," he said.

“I’m happy to see that we’re all in agreement for once,” Council President Kim Lusardi said. “I’m happy to see that both sides have come to a comparable agreement.”

Councilman Drew Lehman said “Dormont's citizens deserve better, we are here to represent everyone and be accountable to every citizen. Some people just lost their perspective and hopefully we can all get back to work.”

Eric Stoltenberg, attorney for the Dormont Police Association, said Burke made a business decision in agreeing to the demotion and "people should give him credit for that."

“The borough was taking a very dramatic position in that (the trespassing citation) was a termination offense," he said.

If Burke had been fired, but got his job back on appeal, it could still be costly and time consuming, Stoltenberg said.

"From the position of Sgt. Burke and the association, this would have the least dramatic impact on him," he said.

Lloyd said he agreed with much of what was in the statement, but also said he’s in charge of the police department under state law.

Control over the police department has been an ongoing issue, with council and the mayor both claiming authority.

In a short-lived tussle involving authority, Lloyd suspended Sgt. Ralf Zawischa on Wednesday, but council reinstated him early Thursday.

Lloyd said he had placed Zawischa on administrative leave with pay over reconnecting GPS units in the police cars.

Last week, Lloyd had ordered that they be disconnected. He and others contend Rizza uses the GPS units to spy on police, which Rizza denies.

Disconnecting the GPS units led council to place Phil Ross on paid administrative leave on Tuesday. Ross had been chief until council demoted him to sergeant in March. Ross is appealing his demotion.

The statement from the union acknowledges the mayor doesn't have the authority to disable GPS or any other equipment.

All police equipment “is owned by the borough, and is to be used at the direction of borough council,” the statement said.

Lloyd said he disagreed with that part.

He said he understands that the borough buys the cars, “but the police have to use them.”

Burke was placed on paid administrative leave last week after he filed trespassing charges against Rizza for entering the police department through a door inside the borough building.

The police had maintained that Rizza wasn’t allowed to use the door.

Lloyd sought to lift Burke’s suspension, but earlier this week, he said he realized he did not have that authority.

The statement acknowledges he lacks that authority. It also addresses Rizza’s access to the police station.

“The Police Association acknowledges that Dormont Borough owns the building where the Dormont Police Department is located and that the borough manager is permitted to enter the police department. The borough agrees that the managers’ access to interview rooms or places where interviews are occurring may be prohibited when interviews are in progress,” the statement said.

The borough considered firing Burke for filing the charges against Rizza, according to the agreement. Instead, the borough agreed to the demotion in exchange for Burke agreeing not to grieve the discipline.

Burke did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment.

“I feel badly for Jim Burke that he was put into a position where he almost had to accept it,” Lloyd said.

The trespassing charged stemmed from a ticket Burke had written for Rizza for parking in a spot at the borough building that had been reserved for another tenant. Rizza went into the police department to discuss the ticket.

Rizza has paid the ticket and said he is not appealing it.


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