Robert Coll

Robert J. Coll
Police career
DepartmentPittsburgh Police
Service years1960–1986
(Pittsburgh Police)
Rank - Pittsburgh Chief
March 1, 1975-
April 4, 1986

Robert J. Coll (born 1934) was a longtime Pittsburgh Police leader, who served as Pittsburgh Police Chief from March 1, 1975 – April 4, 1986. He first joined the force in 1960.[1][2] In the last year of his tenure as Chief the Pittsburgh Police boasted 1,200 sworn officers.[3]

In 1977, Chief Coll made headlines while attending a community meeting with the comment that the then state law prohibited him from reprimanding officers with suspensions or dismissals.[4]

Chief Coll on being a cop

I don't think flair ever solved a crime. You can employ all the technological advances, you can read all of the books and all the brochures, but key to being a police officer is, and will always be, underststanding people.

A 1987 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette interview.

In February, 1981 a long simmering political feud erupted during a Pittsburgh City Council meeting at City Hall between Chief Coll and longtime councilmember and sometimes council president Eugene "Jeep" DePasquale, with accusations of lying and shouting.[5] Coll was the last chief before Mayor Caliguri's summer 1986 police reorganization that put the nine long time city police precincts under the current five "police zones" format.[6]

After his retirement he became Director of the Allegheny County Police Training Academy in suburban North Park. A position he assumed in January, 1987.[7]

  1. ^ "The Pittsburgh Press - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
  2. ^ "The Vindicator - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
  3. ^ "The Pittsburgh Press - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
  4. ^ "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
  5. ^ "The Pittsburgh Press - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
  6. ^ "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
  7. ^ "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 2016-07-21.