Nearly a dozen civilian supervisors in the Police Department's radio room will remain in their jobs while the city appeals a state ruling that uniformed supervisors were unfairly replaced by the civilians last October.
The creation of supervisory positions for civilians in the radio room was done at the behest of the blue-collar municipal union, but the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board ruled July 1 that the city should have bargained with the police union even before making the transfers.
The so-called "civilianization" of the Police Department has been long sought by the city controller's office as a cost-saving measure. It was also recommended in a 1987 report by a blue-ribbon task force that studied problems in the Police Department.
