Some Pittsburgh cops sidelined after failing firearms certification

Several Pittsburgh police officers are off the streets while they await retesting for annual firearms certification, officials said.

Public Safety spokeswoman Cara Cruz said in an email that she did not have the exact number of officers who failed to qualify during the current testing period, noting that it is ongoing until the end of the month.

The Municipal Police Officers’ Education and Training Commission, a 20-member state commission, sets hiring standards and establishes certification and training standards for municipal police officers in the state.

Cruz said that, per protocol, officers who failed to meet the certification standards “were immediately scheduled for remedial training.”

She said the officers are still technically certified through the end of the year, but “are not assisting in field work or permitted to work secondary employment until they requalify.”

The standards for annual firearms qualification recently changed. MPOETC previously set forth standards and allowed police departments to develop their own qualification courses.

“This allowed a great amount of freedom for departments but also resulted in a lack of standardization across the state,” reads MPOETC’s 2022 requirements for firearms qualification.

That lack of consistency was the impetus for a 2020 change requiring all municipal officers to qualify on a standardized firearms qualification course. That course was revised this year and “mimics the course required in the basic training program.”

It was not immediately clear from MPOETC guidelines how long an officer who fails their firearms qualification must wait until attempting the course again.

Pittsburgh policy indicates that officers are allowed two attempts on any given day. Any officer who fails to qualify on the first day would be given a second attempt “as soon as possible.”