Pittsburgh police chief plans pay cut so he can referee collegiate basketball

Pittsburgh Police Chief Larry Scirotto said Wednesday that he will take a salary reduction as part of his deal to return to refereeing NCAA college basketball games.

Scirotto last week announced he would resume refereeing, something he had given up when Mayor Ed Gainey named him chief last year. He already worked one scrimmage match in Michigan earlier this month.

“I’ll be using my own time to ensure no cost to the city,” Scirotto said in a statement Wednesday after declining repeated interview requests.

Assistant Chief Chris Ragland will assume the role of deputy chief to take control of the bureau when Scirotto is traveling to referee.

Scirotto said he plans to officiate about 60 to 65 games this season. It’s unclear how much he will earn per game. Top collegiate conferences pay refs up to $3,000 per game, according to Slate and the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

He offered to reduce his own salary to offset a pay raise for Ragland as he transitions to the deputy chief position.

The chief was budgeted to make $185,400 this year, but will instead take only $166,005. The mayor’s preliminary budget for 2025 was set to increase his pay to more than $187,000, but Scirotto said the salary will instead be reduced to just under $171,000.

Head in the game?

Councilman Anthony Coghill, D-Beechview, said he supports reducing Scirotto’s salary if he’s taking up a refereeing gig that will pull him out of the city throughout basketball season.

But decreasing the chief’s salary isn’t enough to quell concerns Coghill has raised about the new arrangement.

“For me, it’s where is [his] focus going to be?” Coghill said. “Is his head going to be in the game here in Pittsburgh?”

Coghill scheduled a public meeting, known as a post-agenda, with City Council members, Scirotto, Ragland, Public Safety Director Lee Schmidt and Chief Operating and Administrative Officer Lisa Frank for Tuesday to address such questions.

“I’ll hear him out,” Coghill said. “I’ll keep an open mind. It’s a hard opportunity for him to pass up

“If I’m not comfortable with his balance after the post-agenda, I’d probably want him to step down.”

Coghill said he appreciates that basketball is Scirotto’s passion, but he’s worried that having the chief traveling often could cause problems in the police force. He said he wonders whether officers will question Scirotto’s leadership and whether it will impact recruitment.

With an understaffed police force, Coghill said, officers are often required to pick up overtime hours. He voiced concerns they’ll come to resent the chief if they have to work long shifts while Scirotto travels for a side gig.

Scirotto, however, dismissed such concerns.

“What I hear from officers is that they want me to continue to provide leadership in the places that really matter to them: clarity around discipline and the use of force, and restarting training academies to bring new officers to the force,” he said.

An ‘always-on’ chief

When Scirotto took over as chief, he said he would stop refereeing. On Wednesday, Scirotto said he and Gainey agreed he would step away from officiating for just a year “as I established my leadership of the bureau, command staff transitions were implemented, and new strategies were deployed.”

“We also agreed that we could revisit my ability to use accrued time off as I wished when the bureau had stabilized,” Scirotto said. “And that’s what we have done.”

He did not specify how much time off he had accrued.

Olga George, a Gainey spokeswoman, said Wednesday evening she had to check whether she could release that information.

Scirotto said he would leverage his basketball experience to connect with youth sports initiatives in the city.

“Since I arrived, we have a 24/7 chief,” he said. “Whether I had a day off or was away on vacation, I have always been available to residents and my officers. I will remain that kind of ‘always-on’ chief, with the small exception of when I am actually refereeing a game.”