Scirotto says he was prepared to step down if he couldn't officiate games

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Pittsburgh Police Chief Larry Scirottio said he was prepared to step down if he could not return to officiating college basketball games .

On Thursday, Scirotto said he is returning to refereeing NCAA basketball games despite telling Mayor Ed Gainey when he took the job that he would no longer pursue the side job.

"I have two passions in law enforcement and officiating that I love doing," Scirotto told KDKA-TV on Friday in a phone interview. "And they've always co-existed with each other. And I don't think it's fair for someone to arbitrarily make me decide between the two."

In a joint statement on Thursday, Gainey said Scirotto will now be able to run the police bureau and run up and down the hardwood officiating Big Ten Conference basketball games, as he did this past Sunday in a game between Michigan State and Northern Michigan.

Scirotto is in Boston this week at a chief's conference, but he said he was going to step down as chief if he couldn't continue to officiate games.

"You had a change of heart, you thought you could live without it but you couldn't?" KDKA-TV's Andy Sheehan asked.

"It's real and personal," he said. "It's really emotional. It's maybe not something that people who have not sat in either seat can understand. But to attain either position takes a lot of sacrifice, a lot of commitment, and it's almost impossible to walk away from either."

But Scirotto will now be able to referee an estimated 60 games a year, raising concerns that his attentions will be divided and he could be out of town and out of state in times of major crisis.

While the city intends to elevate Assistant Chief Chris Ragland to the rank of deputy chief to be in command should those situations arise, Pittsburgh City Councilman Anthony Coghill said he wants a full-time chief.

"I don't think it's a good idea for a police chief to be focusing four months out of the year, seasonal of course, on basketball," Coghill said. "I feel we need the police chief's focus here in Pittsburgh."

Scirotto has been officiating college games for more than 30 years, during which time he served as zone commander and head of homicide. He said he's proven he can do both without sacrificing performance or public safety.

"I've heard the word optics a lot," he said. "That's really what this is. And if we can get passed the optics of it and get down to the nuts and bolts of it and is it performance-based."

"You believe you can do both functions and do them well?" KDKA-TV's Andy Sheehan asked.

"I do because I have," Scirotto said.

Gainey and Scirotto will make an official announcement on Oct. 22 when they will also unveil a new program to train urban youth in basketball officiating, but Coghill said he'll be scheduling a post-agenda meeting next week to question both on this arrangement.