Pittsburgh police operating under new secondary employment guidelines

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh police are operating under new guidelines for secondary employment.

For years, the special events office at Police Headquarters oversaw secondary employment opportunities for officers, but now a private company is running the show, according to Channel 11 investigative reporter Rick Earle.

The mayor said the FBI raid on the police department's special events office, which oversaw off-duty details and the indictment of former Police Chief Nate Harper, prompted the changes.

"It's something that obviously became necessary, and I really commend Public Safety Director Mike Huss for getting that done," said Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl.

Among the changes, officers will no longer be paid directly. The money will go through the city.

It also prohibits new officers from working secondary employment until they have 18 months on the job.

Also, officer scheduling fees have been eliminated.

"It's gone a long way to clean up a lot of things that I saw as problems with secondary employment," said Huss.

WPXI