Ex-chief Harper to dissolve consulting firm

PITTSBURGH (AP) — An attorney said a security consulting company formed by former Pittsburgh police Chief Nate Harper and four underlings is disbanding.

Attorney Patrick Thomassey represents city police Cmdr. Erie Holmes, who was involved in Diversified Public Safety Consultants with Harper and three other police employees.

Thomassey said the five set up the company after the city police received positive feedback from security they coordinated during the Group of 20 economic summit and related protests in September 2009. The lawyer said, "None of it involved public time. It was all on their own time."

Harper has previously said the company was never operational before he was forced to resign last month by Mayor Luke Ravenstahl.

The mayor requested Harper's resignation after meeting with the FBI about an ongoing investigation into city police finances.

WPXI