Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl has withdrawn his public safety director nomination, citing “controversy surrounding the suitability of the nominee,” says the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Police Commander Catherine McNeilly suggested that Regan undercut her effort to discipline Detective Francis Rende, the brother of the woman with whom Regan shares a home. McNeilly sought to discipline Rende for calling off work to take side jobs, and came to believe that Regan swept the matter under the carpet.
Rende’s complaint history contains a dozen accusations of conduct unbecoming an officer, verbal abuse, and excessive force. In 1999, answered a domestic call and found a depressed and drunk woman. He returned to the home at the woman’s request after his shift had ended, to see if the woman had gotten a protection-from-abuse order against her husband, and the two then engaged in a sex act.