Robert Colville

Robert E. Colville (May 23, 1935 – September 11, 2018) was an American police officer, attorney, and judge from Pittsburgh. Over the course of his career, he served as Pittsburgh Police Chief, as the district attorney of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and finally, as a judge on the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas and the Pennsylvania Superior Court.

Background Colville was born on May 23, 1935, and grew up in the Manchester section of Pittsburgh. After graduating from North Catholic High School in 1953, Colville joined the United States Marine Corps. He later attended Duquesne University, where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts in 1963. Colville then returned to North Catholic, where he was a teacher, and the school's head football coach. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from Duquesne in 1969.

Colville died from lung cancer at Allegheny General Hospital on September 11, 2018, at the age of 83. While Chief in 1974 he started the department on testing for promotions.

Political and legal career He was the Allegheny County District Attorney from 1976, when he defeated incumbent John Hickton, until 1998. Colville contemplated a run for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 1981. In 1997, he was elected to the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, and in 2006, he was appointed to the Pennsylvania Superior Court.