"We have faith in both Sgt. Matakovich's criminal defense attorneys as well as the criminal justice system. The FOP will continue the internal process, which is arbitration at this point.
While we respect the Chief’s personal opinion the processes that are in place by outside agencies are out of our control. What the Chief does have control over is the continuing internal investigation, which by our working agreement cannot be commented on at this time.
While Sgt. Matakovich’s case is important to the administration and the City as an employer I find it interesting that the media and the Administration continue to focus on this as a priority rather than the increase in violent crime across the City. Just yesterday we had another homicide and four separate shootings within the same community.
FOP media response concerning the out come of Sgt. Matakovich City Court hearing resulting in all criminal charges being dismissed today.
“We are very pleased with District Judge Ravensthal's decision this afternoon to dismiss all charges filed against Sgt. Steve Matakovich.
"You can understand the frustration of the membership with having a ruling overturned that was awarded in arbitration and then Common Pleas Court. Ultimately we believe the case will be heard in the Pa. Supreme Court and we feel strongly that we will prevail.
The bigger issue here locally is that we currently have 340 plus pension eligible employees.