Allegheny County Police Superintendent McDonough to retire

The head of the Allegheny County Police Department will retire at the end of March, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said Thursday.

Coleman McDonough, who has led the 225-person department as superintendent since 2016, is set to retire. Assistant Superintendent Chris Kearns will take over, Fitzgerald announced.

McDonough, 65, called it a privilege to have led the department for the past five years.

“After retirement, in the short term, I hope to catch up on some traveling with my lovely wife,” McDonough said in a statement.

He said he hopes to eventually continue serving the community through teaching or volunteer work.

“I will miss it,” he said, “but the department is going to be in great hands with Superintendent Chris Kearns.”

Fitzgerald said the county was fortunate to have McDonough at the helm of the department. He’d previously led the Mt. Lebanon Police Department and, before that he worked with the Pennsylvania State Police in criminal investigation, forensics and administration.

“His steady leadership and example allowed him to work with and navigate the many law enforcement organizations here in our community through difficult times for police locally and nationally,” Fitzgerald said.

County manager William McKain praised McDonough’s even handedness in taking over a department that had seen a high rate of turnover.

“His existing relationships, easy-going nature and community approach to law enforcement enabled him to effect a culture change much more quickly than anyone else may have been able to do,” he said.

McDonough, at his introductory press conference in May 2016, noted that willingness to work collaboratively.

“What I’ve learned more than anything is that I’m usually not the smartest person in the room,” he said at the time. “I’m very willing to ask for assistance to see if there’s a better way of doing business, and (I’m) very open to changing the way that we do policing.”