Ross hires veteran Pittsburgh police commander to serve as its 1st female chief

Ross Township officials broke with the long-standing tradition of promoting their most senior police officer to chief when an opening comes up.

With help from a consultant who developed a plan to restructure the police department, the township announced during a news conference Jan. 17 that it has hired its first woman to lead the 43-member police department.

Cristyn Zett, who has worked nearly 23 years with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, is the township’s new police chief.

Zett most recently served as the commander of the Zone 6 station in the city’s West End neighborhood.

Township officials also announced that the new position of deputy chief of police has been created as part of the police department’s restructuring. That post will be filled by Detective Sgt. Brian Kohlhepp, a 20-year veteran of the department.

Zett is replacing Chief Joe Ley, who is retiring after a 33-year career that included positions as patrol officer, sergeant and lieutenant before being appointed chief in 2016.

Zett and Kohlhepp were sworn in at the Jan. 17 Ross Township commissioners meeting.

“We begin the second century of the Ross Township Police Department with a historical appointment,” said Commissioner Chairman Dan DeMarco, who noted that the department celebrated its centennial last year and named a portion of Perrysville Avenue in remembrance of former Chief Vernon Moses, the township’s only officer to die in the line of duty, in 1934.

“This is a dangerous job, and we are thankful that these brave men and women put their lives on the line every day for us,” DeMarco said. “The senseless and tragic death two weeks ago of Brackenridge police Chief Justin McIntire is indicative of the ultimate sacrifice that police officers make in the line of duty.”

DeMarco said Zett has “an impeccable background in law enforcement,” and she received the top score among the candidates considered for the chief’s position.

DeMarco acknowledged that during Ley’s tenure as chief, he “led the department through some difficult and challenging times” and thanked him for his “honorable and distinguished career.”

Among the problems Ley faced was a series of “no-confidence” votes cast by his officers.

One of the votes was over his handling of a controversial incident involving a sergeant who was investigating a sex case.

Officers accused the sergeant of committing a crime by mishandling explicit video evidence, but an investigation by the state Attorney General’s Office found that there was no wrongdoing.

Officers also accused the chief of inundating them with unnecessary policy changes, tedious activity logs, frivolous uniform changes and an edict announcing zero-tolerance on policy and procedure violations.

To address the problems in the department, the township hired police management consultant Ron Smeal in late 2020.

“We have full confidence in the ability of Commander Zett to address and implement the recommendations Mr. Smeal (the consultant) and lead out police department,” DeMarco said.

Zett will earn $138,000 a year as chief. The salary for the deputy police chief is $130,000.

Zett thanked the board for its decision to hire her as chief.

“I’m really excited about coming to Ross Township,” she said. “As s a young officer, I started in the North Side and got to know several Ross officers and am familiar with what an excellent police department it is.”

The foundation in law enforcement, experiences and opportunities she had working in Pittsburgh “will help me in my role as the chief in Ross,” she said.

Zett said she realized the effect having a woman elevated to a leadership position in law enforcement can have on others after a friend told her his daughter was planning to attend the Jan. 17 commissioners meeting “because she wants to see a female chief sworn in.”

“It has been a long time coming to see women take on more prominent roles in law enforcement, especially in Southwestern Pennsylvania,” she said. “It’s a very difficult job for women to do based on traditional roles and the ways in which we expect people to behave.”

Zett said the support she received from the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police and her family has been the key to her success.

She said she hopes to serve as a role model for other women considering a career in law enforcement.

“We lose a lot of amazing female officers to taking care of families and the pressure to be more and be everything,” she said.

“I’m looking forward to setting an example that shows that you can have a husband and kids and a social life and still be a police officer, even a leading police officer in an agency,” she said.

Zett said she plans to develop a strategy for addressing the public safety issues of greatest concern through meetings with patrol officers, residents and by analyzing crime statistic data.