Pittsburgh's police chief puts down his badge for a referee's whistle

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Pittsburgh's police chief retired Friday, just a week after announcing he would add refereeing college basketball games to his calendar — a move that raised concerns among some city leaders. Chief Larry Scirotto, who had worked as a referee before becoming police chief last year, had maintained that officiating roughly 60 games this season would not interfere with his duties and offered to take a pay cut. Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey chose Scirotto to be the city's next police chief in May 2023.