PITTSBURGH POLICE ARE ADDRESSING THE ISSUE. PITTSBURGH POLICE CHIEF JASON LANDO SAYS THERE HAVE BEEN AT LEAST THREE INSTANCES WHERE CARS HAVE BEEN LEFT ABANDONED FOLLOWING ICE OPERATIONS. WHAT HE SAYS HAS POSED A SAFETY HAZARD. I REACHED OUT TO THE SUPERVISOR, I BELIEVE IS THE AGENCY SUPERVISOR, AND I SAID, HEY, IS THIS IS THIS POLICY? AND HE SAID, ABSOLUTELY NOT. WE’LL GET IT FIXED. CHIEF JASON LANDO CONFIRMING THE PROBLEM AND SAYS HE HAS BEEN IN CONTACT WITH HOMELAND SECURITY OFFICIALS ABOUT THE ISSUE. HE SAYS APPARENTLY AGENTS ARE SUPPOSED TO PARK THE CARS LEGALLY, LOCK THEM AND RETURN THE KEYS TO THE DRIVER. MAYOR COREY O’CONNOR HAS BEEN CLEAR THAT THE CITY WILL NOT HELP ICE IN ANY CAPACITY, AND SAYS HE HAS HAD DISCUSSIONS WITH OTHER MAYORS ACROSS THE COUNTRY ABOUT THEIR OPTIONS. AS THIS CONTINUES, LANDO SAYS HE HAS TOLD HIS OFFICERS TO KEEP TRACK OF SIMILAR INSTANCES TO MAKE SURE IT DOESN’T HAPPEN AGAIN. HE ALSO SAYS THEY HAVE ALSO COME TO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE AGENCY TO NOTIFY THE BUREAU AFTER AN OPERATION HAS HAPPENED. WE DID COME TO AN AGREEMENT THAT AFTER THE FACT, ONCE THE SITUATION IS OVER, IF THEY COULD GIVE US A COURTESY NOTIFICATION OF WHAT DID TRANSPIRE. SO IF WE GET A CALL ABOUT SOMETHING SUSPICIOUS, SOMETIMES IT COMES OVER AS A POSSIBLE KIDNAPING THAT WE’RE ABLE TO DISPEL THAT PRETTY QUICKLY. I HAVE REACHED OUT TO HOMELAND SECURITY FOR FURTHER COMMENT AND I’M WAITING T
Pittsburgh mayor and police chief address concerns of abandoned cars following ICE operations
Updated: 8:28 PM EST Feb 13, 2026
Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor and Police Chief Jason Lando on Friday addressed the rise of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a federal agency operating in the city, which has led to cars being left abandoned and creating safety hazards. O’Connor doubled down on his stance that the city will not work with the federal agency.”If they were to reach out to the city for assistance on something, we would ignore,” O’Connor said. “Obviously, there are so many specific situations we couldn’t get into details on, but the reality is, if they reached out for assistance, we’re ignoring it.”Lando noted that there have been at least three instances where ICE conducted operations in Pittsburgh, resulting in abandoned cars on the road.Lando said, “I reached out to the supervisor, I believe it was the HSI (Homeland Security Investigations) supervisor, and I said, ‘Hey, is this policy?’ And he said, absolutely not, we’ll get it fixed.”Lando also added that Homeland Security officials agreed to notify them after an operation happens, to make sure it doesn’t lead to any speculation.”We did come to an agreement that after the fact, once the situation is over, if they could give us a courtesy notification of what did transpire, so if we get a call about something suspicious — sometimes it comes over as a possible kidnapping — that we’re able to dispel that pretty quickly,” Lando said.For the time being, he instructed Pittsburgh police officers to document any similar situations they encounter.”To follow up on that, I asked all officers that if they do encounter a situation like that again, to make sure they write a memo to me so I can go direct with HSI and make sure this doesn’t happen again,” Lando said.Lando said agents are supposed to park cars legally, lock them and return the keys to the driver. Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 has reached out to Homeland Security officials for further comment and is waiting for a response.
PITTSBURGH —
Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor and Police Chief Jason Lando on Friday addressed the rise of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a federal agency operating in the city, which has led to cars being left abandoned and creating safety hazards.
O’Connor doubled down on his stance that the city will not work with the federal agency.
“If they were to reach out to the city for assistance on something, we would ignore,” O’Connor said. “Obviously, there are so many specific situations we couldn’t get into details on, but the reality is, if they reached out for assistance, we’re ignoring it.”
Lando noted that there have been at least three instances where ICE conducted operations in Pittsburgh, resulting in abandoned cars on the road.
Lando said, “I reached out to the supervisor, I believe it was the HSI (Homeland Security Investigations) supervisor, and I said, ‘Hey, is this policy?’ And he said, absolutely not, we’ll get it fixed.”
Lando also added that Homeland Security officials agreed to notify them after an operation happens, to make sure it doesn’t lead to any speculation.
“We did come to an agreement that after the fact, once the situation is over, if they could give us a courtesy notification of what did transpire, so if we get a call about something suspicious — sometimes it comes over as a possible kidnapping — that we’re able to dispel that pretty quickly,” Lando said.
For the time being, he instructed Pittsburgh police officers to document any similar situations they encounter.
“To follow up on that, I asked all officers that if they do encounter a situation like that again, to make sure they write a memo to me so I can go direct with HSI and make sure this doesn’t happen again,” Lando said.
Lando said agents are supposed to park cars legally, lock them and return the keys to the driver.
Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 has reached out to Homeland Security officials for further comment and is waiting for a response.