Court reduces discipline for Pittsburgh officers missing funeral

An appeals court has confirmed a decision to lessen the punishment for two Pittsburgh police officers. They had been suspended for not being present at a funeral where five people were shot. Originally, Officers Thomas Potts and Dalton Dailey received five-day suspensions. This was after the shooting occurred on October 28, 2022, at Destiny of Faith Church. The officers were supposed to provide police presence at the funeral for John Hornezes Jr., who had been killed weeks earlier. Instead of attending the funeral, the officers went to a uniform store in McKees Rocks. Their supervisor called them back shortly before 10 a.m., but didn't mention the funeral detail. The officers returned to the office by 10:30 or 11 a.m. Later, they heard about the shooting on the police radio. During arbitration, their police union argued that the supervisor was aware of their absence and did not object. They claimed that the funeral detail was not considered a top priority. The arbitration panel agreed and reduced the officers' punishment to only an oral reprimand. The city then appealed this decision to the Allegheny County Common Pleas Court. In separate opinions released on Monday, Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court upheld the arbitration ruling, stating it was within the arbitrators' authority.