Court orders reinstatement with full back pay for officer fired after Jim Rogers tasing death

PITTSBURGH — 11 Investigates has learned that the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania issued an order reinstating former Pittsburgh police officer Keith Edmonds with full back pay.

Edmonds was one of several officers fired following an October 2021 incident in Bloomfield, where Jim Rogers was tased while being arrested over a stolen bike.

Body-camera footage shows Rogers, who allegedly stole a bicycle, with his hands up being tased by Officer Edmonds. He falls to the ground and is tased again. He then tries to run and is tased yet again. Rogers went into cardiac arrest and died at the hospital the next day.

The City of Pittsburgh paid Rogers’ family $8 million to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit.

However, the city’s medical examiner deemed Roger’s death accidental.

The police union appealed Edmonds’ firing, claiming he was not responsible for Rogers’ death.

An arbitrator ruled in Edmonds’ favor, though a common pleas judge later upheld the termination, saying there was overwhelming evidence Edmonds violated policy.

Edmonds was ordered reinstated with full back pay by Commonwealth Court after the union appealed further.

The other officers who were fired had all been reinstated previously. None of the officers were ever criminally charged.

Robert Swartzwelder, president of Fraternal Order of Police Fort Pitt Lodge No. 1, gave this statement:

“The FOP is pleased with the overturning of the Common Pleas Court and the concurring opinion of one of the judges stating that personal opinions do not belong in judicial rulings. The FOP knew all along of Officer Edmonds’ innocence and that he acted reasonably. It was unfortunate and tragic that Jim Rogers died, but in the City’s rush to judgment, the City ignored all medical evidence and made a public media mess of the officers’ lives involved. However, as is the City’s practice, they will likely appeal again. The FOP expects the Pa. Supreme Court to shut that appeal down for the Commonwealth Court, in an En Banc ruling legally destroying every issue the City of Pittsburgh raised.”

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