Forgiving is one thing; forgetting can be more difficult.

There are some things about city police Detective George Trosky that are not easily forgotten.

After all, he was the patrolman who, in April 1989, was videotaped punching a Grateful Dead fan during a fracas outside Mellon Arena. National broadcast of the event gave the city a black eye, but Mr. Trosky was cleared of using excessive force. He returned to work and, in 1993, was promoted to sergeant.

Four years later, Mr. Trosky was charged with assault and drunken driving for an incident in which his wife's nose was broken. She did not appear to testify against him (the couple has since divorced) and his blood alcohol test was deemed inadmissible in court. Mr. Trosky's punishment was being bumped back to patrolman.

By many accounts, George Trosky is a changed man -- a respected, productive detective on the city's homicide squad. Police Chief Nate Harper will promote him to commander on Monday.

Right now, Pittsburgh has eight police commanders. The occupants of these key positions often are the bureau's public faces, and they are outranked only by the chief, deputy chief and assistant chiefs.

Chief Harper laid the groundwork for promoting Mr. Trosky in January, when he convinced the city to change civil service requirements. In the past, an officer had to be either a sergeant or a lieutenant before jumping to the rank of commander. Mr. Trosky won civil service approval after that, and Chief Harper said last week he was the "front-runner" for the next available command post.

But we'd like to hear more from Chief Harper.

What does he have to say to victims of domestic violence who will be apprehensive about how future incidents will be handled under a Trosky command? Why has he selected this man, rather than one of the 77 sergeants and 25 lieutenants already in a supervisory role?

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl supports Chief Harper's decision and said that he talked with Mr. Trosky and reviewed his file. "I believe his 30 years of service and his record speaks for itself," the mayor said.

We hope some parts of it speak louder than others.

As we wait to see how Mr. Trosky handles being commander, forgetting his past won't be part of the equation. We -- and the public -- will be evaluating his performance with it in mind.

First Published: June 15, 2007, 11:45 p.m.