By Police1 Staff
PITTSBURGH — The Fraternal Order of Police Pittsburgh union president plans to file a grievance after learning officers were forced to work traffic detail at a Beyonce concert.
President Bob Swartzwalder told WPXI the city had enough officers to work the Tuesday night concert but went about it the wrong way.
“This is strictly an issue of secondary employment and the officers’ right to choose what type of secondary employment they engage in,” he said.
There were 32 officers forced to work traffic at the concert because not enough officers volunteered for off-duty detail, which is known as secondary employment. Swartzwalder said there aren’t enough officers to work every detail.
“The traffic management plan allows them to hire county police officers and state police although that’s going to be tremendously more expensive,” Swartzwalder said.
The union already filed an unfair labor practice after a similar incident earlier this month at the Pittsburgh Marathon.
“If they have a complaint, they can obviously file it, but we feel we are working within the rules of the collective bargaining agreement and will continue to do so,” Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto told the news site.