| abstract | - I am greatly heartened by the Post-Gazette's call to involve the public and our elected officials in a process designed to re-evaluate the pursuit policy of the Pittsburgh police ("Deadly Pursuit: Police Need to Involve the Public in Chase Policies," July 8 editorial). For nearly 10 years, as solicitor to the coroner, I assisted Dr. Cyril Wecht in carrying out his mandated policy of conducting open, public and independent inquests into police chases during which fatalities occurred. In the spring of 2004, a well-publicized police chase ended in the tragic and untimely death of Andrea Umphrey. Dr. Wecht immediately scheduled an inquest into her death, only to have the proceeding choked off by an overstepping district attorney in what was to be a harbinger of his overzealous campaign to obviate and eviscerate the statutorily mandated investigative powers of the coroner. It is quite safe to assume that had Dr. Wecht remained coroner or medical examiner, an inquest into the horrible and tragic deaths of Devon Miles' victims on May 25, with the attendant examination of the pursuit policy, would be well under way. The powers of the coroner/medical examiner have been severely weakened by the courts through the protracted, aggressive campaign of the district attorney. However, the home rule legislative scheme remains in place to allow such a forum. If the Post-Gazette, City Council and public are serious about this issue, all pressure must be put on our current medical examiner to undertake a serious, comprehensive and public airing of these untimely deaths. TIMOTHY G. UHRICH, Downtown
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