• last month
The police chief is heading out
Transcript
00:00I don't like basketball so as a result I don't like Larry Sharada it's just the
00:08way it is. People in this town, people in this town kill me man. Look I'm biased I
00:18don't care what you think and you know I'm what you call a man's man I'm very
00:24loyal and I'm loyal to truth and I'm loyal to integrity and I'm loyal to
00:29leadership and a sense of humor and someone who gives a crap about people
00:32and Larry fits all that. It's so funny because he's sitting here and I'm kind
00:38of screwed that you're leaving because you're a great resource because you
00:41answer the damn phone and you talk to the public and for selfish reasons I
00:46think the public needs to hear from the chief don't you? I agree absolutely I
00:50mean that's what their expectation is that's what they hired me to do would be
00:53the face of the Bureau and so I embrace that challenge. Yeah and again no
00:58disrespect to any former chief because it's it's not about me it certainly isn't
01:02about the media but some chiefs are just by the book and they don't like to be on
01:07camera on the air at all and they just do their thing and go home and I think
01:11it benefits the general public if they hear from that guy or that woman a lot
01:16don't you? Yeah I mean it's a they're looking for like a sense of calm right
01:20and especially when there's such at times such chaos and they want to be
01:24they want to relate to the chief I think and when you go out into the community
01:28like they're they see you on TV and it takes them a while to recognize
01:31especially if I'm in like normal clothes and like wait a minute hey you're the
01:34chief and then you have a conversation and you put some humanity into our
01:37profession because that's I think where we are criticized the most is that we
01:41lack that humanity and that's a way to make our profession human to the public.
01:45Kind of shocked a lot of people when you up and quit as they say were you shocked
01:53that you made that decision or you kind of felt enough is enough I got to go?
01:56You know I didn't come to that conclusion lightly there are so many
02:00aspects that went into the final decision and you start talking or
02:05thinking about like what this profession takes from us I challenge our officers
02:09all the time to have and love something outside of policing because it takes
02:13from you physically it takes from me emotionally it takes from you mentally
02:16but more importantly it starts to take you from your family and that's what
02:20this last round of scrutiny started to cause it started to impact my family and
02:27that's the thing that I couldn't allow to continue to occur. People just well
02:32you know the criticism that you played us and I mean us by the citizens and
02:37this is the the theory and this comes from counsel this isn't something new or
02:41news to you I'm not sandbagging you here the theory is that you were never gonna
02:47quit reffing the theory is that you and Ganey cut a deal that once you got your
02:51feet set here again that you'd start reffing again and that's what happened
02:55and that's that is that fair? The reality of it is like we have like anything so
03:01you have incentive based contracts a lot of CEOs do some chiefs of police do to
03:07make but they usually compensate you financially my incentive based contract
03:11was if this city if we had a responsible approach to gun violence if
03:16we had a responsible approach to community policing if we had a
03:19responsible approach to recruiting and hiring November's class is going to
03:23start November 4th 44 officers in one of the largest classes we've had a long
03:28time yeah diverse right if we have responsible approaches to those things
03:32that were a challenge for us prior to me getting here that my incentive was that
03:36I could go back to officiate oh okay so so so in English you set up a template
03:43of success and so the template exists that if you set these watermarks for
03:47different things right right that you could go back to reffing and if I stunk
03:51at my job right as the police chief then refereeing was not an option so that's
03:56exactly what the conversation was in front of council when when councilman
04:00Caldwell suggested they were lied to if I was bad at my job I wasn't going back
04:04to officiating period couldn't happen but if I met these benchmarks then
04:08that's my incentive the incentive is to go and be able to do something I love we
04:13met and exceeded every one of those benchmarks and because of that Mayor
04:17Ganey gave me the latitude and opportunity to go back but but and I
04:22know you pretty well and I know this town pretty well and I know all those
04:24council members pretty well and I know the mayor pretty well I never heard of
04:27that plan that incentive based plan in other words this is like a side deal
04:32between you and the mayor and if I'm characterizing it unfairly I don't call
04:36it it's just conversation right it's in other words this wasn't told to the
04:39public no it was big what are you gonna say if my chief stinks then then nothing
04:43then none of this is true it's a conversation in a man-to-a-man right and
04:47it's an agreement between the mayor and myself I see man-to-man if you do these
04:51things then we will revisit revisit your officiating right and we did those
04:56things and we did them better than expectations and because of that then I
05:00got the opportunity to revisit officiate so when people say you lied
05:03when council says you lied did you lie I answered the question correct right and
05:09that was correct in that moment right and in that I don't think anybody that
05:13knows me would ever think that I would walk away from officiating for life it
05:17gave me it gave me energy it gave me focus it gave me a goal to achieve for
05:22this Bureau for this city for our community and and when we did that then
05:25that was my reward you feel like you let the city down absolutely not you
05:30don't absolutely not are you kind of because I am I got to be honest with you
05:34I'm kind of blown away by the criticism of you now you went from I swear
05:39overnight you went from Jesus to Judas overnight you hate that how the how quick
05:45does this the mighty fall or how quick does perception perspective change in
05:50that because now there's a there's a decision that people aren't at peace
05:55with yeah and and you know at the end of the day I've got to be at peace with
05:59the decisions that I make and I'm at peace with the work and and the
06:04accomplishments that the Bureau's made over the last 18 months and and I can
06:07walk away from here not satisfied because there's always work to do but
06:12assured that the work that I started the work that we have started together will
06:16continue forward you know what's interesting about when this first
06:19happened I said who cares and and the reason why I say this because I know a
06:23lot of cops and a lot of cops have side hustles as I do by the way and they do
06:29their job there's a cop who's in a band there's cops that have businesses I mean
06:33there are and how are you any different and then I thought once it hit the fan
06:38once I started seeing pictures of you reffing once it became ugly I thought
06:42this ain't gonna work and you kind of agree don't you yeah I don't disagree I
06:48the the amount of distraction the optics that this will have like every
06:53time I'm on a basketball game and there's some major event in the city
06:57whether we are aptly capable of responding to that event or not it's
07:01going to be associated with me being at what in real life to others is a game
07:06and I and I don't dismiss that right right what I'm doing right it's a game
07:11and to a lot of people that are having to face real life issues right and so I
07:15understand that and and I know that it wasn't sustainable and because it wasn't
07:20sustainable the Bureau does not deserve this distraction because every time you
07:24were to game we would have seen where's Larry if someone gets shot and killed
07:27Larry screwed up Larry's to blame right where's Waldo right and it's a box score
07:31it's it's um I referee basketball at the highest level it is a national broadcast
07:37every night no hiding I actually think that is funny I don't know how this
07:43works I don't even know how they track officials down all of a sudden I'm
07:46seeing pictures you ref in a game and then some chart with your name on it I
07:49don't even know that crap existed like some investigative reporter finds me on
07:53a game first off doesn't even have the right date of the game doesn't know
07:57where it's at the broadcast it's on the Big Ten Network it broadcasts from
08:01Pacific Ocean to Atlantic Ocean from Canada to Mexico who's hiding who's
08:05gonna hide I can't hide but I understand that as well and because there isn't
08:10this because I'm always visible I will always be associated to some port like
08:15some one of our poor kids get shot that has to be my fault you would own that I
08:20have to and you know so then you start carrying carrying weight of a world that
08:27you can't control right and more importantly you start impacting people's
08:29lives well it goes from Larry's did a hell of a job to Larry socks and he's a
08:33liar and look what he's doing making a living all this money he doesn't care
08:36about Pittsburgh that's what order income yeah and that's just not fair it's not
08:39fair to the Bureau that's not fair to my professional reputation I think
08:42listen at the end of the day I think I earned the opportunity to give it a shot
08:46to give it a chance however the Bureau doesn't have to bear the responsibility
08:53the burden of my life choice yeah I get it not I initially thought it would be
08:58cool and once all the crap at the fan I thought no this is bad it's bad for him
09:02it's bad for this town and you love this town that's why you came back I love
09:06this Police Department Marty it is it is a majority of my adult life it was
09:11the yeah real adult job I've ever had look scar on my face yeah from get hit
09:17by a car policing scar on my hand and a domestic I still have feeling in my
09:21finger from getting cut by an ashtray hole in my knee from foot chase chasing
09:25the dude that shot somebody in front all over high school like I've taken scars
09:28for this police yeah and I love it and I still love it and I'll always love it no
09:32matter how critical it is no matter how challenging it is it is always been
09:36worth it to me yeah but you're not gonna you're not gonna do this for a
09:40while you might never do it again I think this this is the time that I can
09:45step away head held high with a sense of accomplishment a sense of pride and I
09:52know the Bureau is in a better place today than it was when I got here I know
09:57the leadership team that we assembled is capable beyond capable of building a
10:03Bureau of Excellence so I don't doubt the the opportunities that the Pittsburgh
10:08Bureau of Police have on the horizon did you um because you heard this too I'm
10:13not this isn't new or new see everybody I got all these texts at all he's
10:16sandbagging this he came back to puff up his pension I heard that I don't know
10:22anything about pensions I apologize I don't have one I'm independently wealthy
10:26as you already know but uh I don't know how did you come back and take this gig
10:30to make more money when you retire okay so for the $40,000 a year that they're
10:34speaking of cost me $87,000 on a down payment for a house cost me $18,000 to
10:41move my family from Texas to Pennsylvania hundred thousand right
10:44there I lost an entire year's worth of basketball salary it will take me eight
10:48years to recover the amount of money that the pensions going to benefit oh
10:53and by the way oh and by the way right we move our family right if that was the
11:01case why wouldn't I have left on May 10th right it's a year look back the I
11:06was invested we were invested my family was invested it was a matter of when
11:12this became in a story when this became a reality like we just couldn't sustain
11:19the the constant chaos people jumping out of bushes and at the airport to
11:24determine like where where where was Larry at last night right it got old it
11:29got old and it would continue that story was never going to end
11:37at the end of the day I'm hearing that you may never go back to law enforcement
11:42that you might do this for the rest of your life the roughing because it pays
11:45really well and you you must really love it too man yeah it is it's a career
11:49and there's something really cool about 17,000 people booing you and cheering
11:55you at the same time yeah like the the the challenge to be excellent every
12:00night understanding that 50% of the time you're making the wrong call in
12:04somebody's opinion right and and but you have like listen we are we are evaluated
12:11every game we are challenged to be excellent every game looking for
12:15perfection never getting it and there's something intrinsic about that type of
12:19pursuit what happens when you see what happened when you made this decision is
12:25I start getting all this flood of information that you you're under
12:28investigation in Florida they had the goods on you and then this guy quit and
12:32that was so all of a sudden you're being characterized as a bad guy who broke the
12:37law in other places and the reason why you're leaving this is because you're
12:39evading the law here because you're breaking the law here how do you manage
12:43that those accusations and allegations because you know this is out there I
12:47always said you know just because someone has an opinion that's public
12:52doesn't make it the public's opinion and those exact what those are those are
12:56opinions like you want to talk about Fort Lauderdale the FDLE the Fort
12:59Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigated that found it completely
13:03unfounded right if we want to talk about another criticism right like it's all
13:08unfounded so just because you can say it or write it doesn't make it true I
13:11want somebody to tell me one stitch of evidence that shag actually showed it
13:14was factual isn't that part of being the chief and isn't that part of what sucks
13:17about being the chief you sent me I think you sent me a message to life in
13:21the fishbowl right right right and when you accept a role with life in the
13:26fishbowl then you accept all of the criticism that comes with it whether
13:30it's fair at times it's not going to be and if that's your expectation you will
13:35be very disappointed is the chief of any department whether it's factual I
13:39mean I don't go on social media for a reason
13:42all right the giraffe head that has an opinion the GOP 2024 that criticized me
13:47I had to block him right because his statements are false and there's no
13:53there's no character in the things that they say and no facts and the things
13:56that they say so if life in the fishbowl means that you're going to be constantly
14:01criticized everything that you're going to be observed treated fairly or
14:03unfairly then I accepted that role when I became the chief what are you gonna do
14:07man are you gonna stay here you're gonna move cuz I'm here and you might end up
14:09back in Texas or so my partner like some like things the public doesn't know
14:14right is like my partner gets promoted they are sending us and him out of state
14:18what are we gonna do are we gonna live apart for the next year yeah no no I'm
14:23gonna follow his dreams as well he followed me here more Texas right yeah
14:28and we're gonna follow his dreams to pursue his career goals and I can live
14:33anywhere as an official so it doesn't matter you're not gonna be a cop no not
14:37in Dallas no no not all cuz you know I know what that's like oh yes you do this
14:41is playland compared to that brother that's a heavy lift yeah super heavy
14:45lift and I have no interest in that what about to the people Pittsburgh who will
14:50be disappointed you're leaving what's your message to them you know it's I
14:55just know that the department's in great hands assistant chief Fraglin will do
14:59excellent in that role if given the opportunity what about cops who tell me
15:03they don't like him he's not nice to people I'm just being honest yeah like I
15:08don't know what nice is he's a he's a very thoughtful very committed 30-year
15:14veteran if you're looking for like my personality his personality which is
15:18very different and so that's not the fair comparison all I know is when push
15:24comes to shove will he do the job in the way in which this city deserves and the
15:28way which our officers are I say 100% affirmative he will and he should be
15:33given the chance to do so here's what's fascinating about you and I've been
15:38around a lot of cops I've been in this business more than 40 years and I've
15:41known a lot of chiefs man I've never heard criticism of you and here's what
15:45makes it even wilder until now now they're all picking on you because they
15:48have to work 12 hours just and all this other stuff I've never heard anyone come
15:52after you and what's wild is you're gay and I'm saying that because cops can be
15:57pretty hateful but you know I'm saying okay but they never even came after you
16:02you got it respect that that never became an issue and with men and macho
16:08cops it can be kind of testy can it not it can be but you know there's I'm being
16:12honest I'm sure yeah yeah fair right but there's listen sexuality aside there's
16:17not a thing that I haven't done in this department I put in work yeah and when
16:22you put in work real knows real and when you put in the work people accept
16:26you for that effort and whatever about you that they disagree with or can't
16:33understand doesn't matter because that's what this profession does embraces
16:37hard-working officers embraces hard-working cops and I did it and I'm
16:42proud of that record I said I got the scars to prove it so you know I just
16:46never faced that criticism because to a lot of people I was real police right
16:51and in that you get nothing else matters the reality is nothing else
16:55should matter it doesn't so the only complaint I ever hear from cops here is
16:58they don't get paid enough and I agree with that will they ever get paid enough
17:03which is a hundred thousand plus can the city ever afford that and should they
17:07have to do it to keep the good ones they're going I listen I don't think the
17:12mayor Ganey I mean this is not like some political plug right is the best mayor
17:20this police department has ever seen he gives a damn about the officers that
17:25work for the Bureau and I'm going to tell you in the 30 years I've been here
17:29the only one ever like it the only one has engaged the only one committed to
17:33compensating them in a way to your point that will keep them here so so when I
17:38think about him as the mayor I know that this department needs him for its
17:44continued success and probably more than it actually needed me and I told
17:50him that like this city this police department needs you more than needs me
17:53and I meant it and that mayor mayor Ganey gives a damn about our police
17:58department and and so in that yeah we'll get there I think we'll get there and
18:02they're going to go into a contract here in 2025 and and I think they'll be
18:06compensated fairly compared to our suburban counterparts will we ever pay
18:12higher than removal no because we can't right we don't with 800 and something
18:17odd officers you're never going to meet the affluent suburbs pay scale but we
18:21can be competitive thanks well man my man I really I really I'm gonna miss you
18:25because you know what man you tell the truth and you answer the phone and that's
18:29rare and you give a damn that's rare good luck with the game man hey you know
18:34what you're doing you're chasing your dream that's what we're all here for and
18:37at the end of the day listen I love this Bureau I admire and respect the men and
18:41women that do the real work every day I just thank them for allowing me to be
18:45their leader for the time that I got the opportunity to do my man thanks for
18:48coming in there you didn't have to bye-bye to Larry
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