[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 51 (Tuesday, April 30, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E663]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         RETIREMENT OF PITTSBURGH POLICE COMMANDER GWEN ELLIOTT

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. WILLIAM J. COYNE

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 30, 2002

  Mr. COYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to observe that Pittsburgh 
Police Commander Gwendolyn J. Elliott is retiring after more than 25 
years of service with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police.
  Commander Elliott has a long and commendable career of public 
service. She served from 1964 until 1969 in the United States Air 
Force. She subsequently served in the Air National Guard from 1969 
until 1973 and in the Army Reserves from 1974 until 1979. She worked as 
a Crisis Intervention Counselor at a Massachusetts community-based 
treatment center, and as a mental health counselor, before joining the 
Pittsburgh Bureau of Police in May 1976. After working as a Patrol 
Officer for eight years, she was promoted to the rank of Sergeant. Two 
years later, she was promoted to Commander and served as the Night 
Watch Commander commanding five precincts until June 1990. From June 
1990 until October she served as Commander in Charge of the Office of 
Family Violence, Youth, and Missing Persons, where she supervised 30 
Detectives. She also served as Assistant to the Mayor for Youth Policy 
from January 1994 to January 1996. Most recently, she served as the 
Commander in Charge of the Zone 3 Station.
  Commander Elliott has also been actively involved in a number of 
community activities. She has served as President of the Women Police 
of Western Pennsylvania and of the East Liberty Business & Professional 
Women's Club. She has served on a number of boards, including the 
boards of Pittsburgh Community Services, the Center for Victims of 
Violent Crimes, United Cerebral Palsy, Three Rivers Youth, and the 
Parental Stress Center. She is a member of a number of other civic 
organizations as well.
  Today is Commander Elliott's last day on the job. Upon her 
retirement, she will be working on a new project--Gwen's Girls, a local 
agency with a mission to reach out and help at-risk adolescent girls. 
On behalf of the people of Pennsylvania's 14th Congressional District, 
I want to commend Commander Elliott for her many years of dedicated 
public service and wish her well in this new endeavor.

                          ____________________