Joseph Sabino Mistick: A good lesson on Pittsburgh violence from Earl Buford

It was a warm summer night in 1990, and I was sitting with Pittsburgh Narcotics Chief Earl Buford Jr. in an unmarked police vehicle on the edge of an open-air drug market. As the mayor’s chief of staff, I had asked Buford to help us understand the wave of drug-related street violence that was terrorizing our citizens, confining them indoors with open gunfire and destroying peaceful life in our neighborhoods.

Around 3 a.m., a kid approached our car, thinking we were there to buy drugs. Buford waved him off, and the kid paused before deciding to give it a second shot.

“Are you sure, man? I got some really good stuff here,” he said to Buford.

Without interrupting our conversation, Buford slowly pulled his wallet from his jacket and showed the kid his badge. Then, as the kid scrambled away, Buford said, “That kid’s not one of the bad guys. Arresting him won’t solve anything. We have to get the bad guys.”

Buford, who died at 81 on July 25, was eventually named chief of police by Mayor Sophie Masloff, and he led the city’s effort to take our neighborhoods back from the gangs, stop the killings and make it safe for people to sit out on their porches again.

Buford had spent time with other agencies on special assignment, so he knew the value of cooperation. He recommended that the mayor accept the offer from the U.S Attorney at the time, Tom Corbett, to partner with the city.

Democrat Masloff was not about to let thugs take over our city. In those days, bipartisan cooperation was more natural than now. Republican Corbett had more resources than the city could muster. Pennsylvania’s Republican Attorney General Ernie Preate soon joined the fight, along with other county and state agencies. Masloff had Buford and the city police — steady and fearless.

The combination worked. The drug-dealing gang members with their illegal weapons were chased, arrested, prosecuted and imprisoned. Thanks to the resolve of Masloff, Buford, Corbett, Preate and many brave police officers, order was restored, and the corrosive effect of violence and the fear of violence was greatly reduced.

Now, Pittsburgh is again in trouble. Violence has escalated. Business owners, who have spent their lives and fortunes building a community asset, do not close their doors or move out of the city on a whim. Corporate leaders do not slow-walk the return of their employees to Downtown for any reason other than concern for their safety. And residents do not lock themselves in their homes by choice.

Sadly, Mayor Ed Gainey and his administration continue to “gaslight” Pittsburghers, assuring them crime statistics show that things are not so bad. And that there is no need for more police. They are telling citizens that what they see and hear with their own eyes and ears is not real.

For anything to change, that so-called “messaging” must stop. The right message is that city leaders are going to call together every law enforcement agency in the region to help put a stop to this violence.

Larry Scirotto, Pittsburgh’s new police chief, deserves a fair chance to help get this right. For our sake, let’s hope he has the wisdom and common sense that Chief Earl Buford Jr. brought to the job, as well as the confidence of a stand-up mayor who helps him get it done.