Yesterday someone asked Early Returns why what police do in their spare time has become the campaign issue of the week. We thought about it, and came up with our top 10 reasons why police working off-duty for private businesses has become the hot topic in the race between Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Councilman William Peduto.

10) Because it strikes some people odd that uniformed, armed police, with arrest powers, are working for entrepreneurial consortiums that hire them out to private businesses, while the city carries some liability for their actions. Court records indicate that some of the entrepreneurial networks are very legitimate businesses that ensure all income is reported for tax purposes. But Fraternal Order of Police President Jim Malloy has said that some officers get paid under the table by bars, raising another set of issues.

9) Because there's a tie-in to the as-yet-unsettled federal whistleblower lawsuit by Cmdr. Catherine McNeilly against the city and the mayor. Specifically, several of the accusations made by Cmdr. McNeilly in the case -- an unproven one that former Operations Director Dennis Regan quashed discipline against Ofcr. Frank Rende, and a well-documented one that Mr. Regan reversed the firing of Sgt. Mark Eggleton -- relate to side jobs. Though they haven't confirmed that it's one of their settlement demands, Cmdr. McNeilly's lawyers have been saying that they want the city to reform the way side jobs are doled out, managed and paid.

8) Because that expressed concern by Cmdr. McNeilly's lawyers has engendered all kinds of worry in the Ravenstahl camp. That's in part because former Chief Robert W. McNeilly Jr. -- Catherine's husband -- chose the firm Cover Your Assets LLC to provide the software for scheduling side jobs. And the outdated Web site for Chief McNeilly's now-dormant consulting business still includes the following statement: "We are collaborating with Cover Your Assets, LLC on the design and implementation within agencies of the AIMS-To-CYA Administrative Information Management System, an Early Intervention System." Chief McNeilly and CYA executives have said they've never done business, and have no plans to do so, and that the Web site reference to the contrary is a year old and will come down. But it's still up.

7) Because if mutual mistrust on the issue of side job scheduling poisons the settlement talks, the prospect of depositions of Mr. Regan and Mr. Ravenstahl potentially alters the dynamic of the campaign.

6) Because there's even a tie-in to the mayor's October 31, 2005, Heinz Field incident. Sgt. John H. Fisher Jr. controls the side jobs within the stadiums, and was one of the officers present when the decision was made to let the handcuffed then-councilman go without filing a report.

5) Because FOP support is a powerful political symbol, and the police union is concerned about side jobs. The union opposed the original fee structure for side jobs. Mr. Malloy told Early Returns yesterday that he didn't want a $4- or $5-per-hour city stipend for an off-duty officer, because it would chase away business. He is O.K. with a $2- or $3-per-hour city add-on, which he said would bring the Police Bureau $140,000 a year. Scheduling all side jobs through the bureau is fine, too, he said. "I think 100 percent, it should be ultimately derived through the system of the special events office, through that computer system they have over there," he said. If, say, PNC Park management wants Sgt. Fisher to help pick the officers that work the games, it can pay him an additional stipend on top of the city's take, Mr. Malloy said.

4) Because the Peduto camp views this as a character issue. If Mr. Ravenstahl won't go through with a plan launched under Mayor Tom Murphy and continued by Mayor Bob O'Connor, the Peduto crowd argues, then he must be beholden to some special interest.

3) Because it's a (mostly) symbolic fiscal issue. Chief McNeilly estimated the city could bring in $500,000 through centralizing the side jobs and taking a cut. Mr. Malloy's estimate is a more modest sum, based on a lower price, but is nonetheless meaningful money. And the pending settlement of Sgt. Eggleton's case for $200,000 shows there's city liability inherent in the current system.

2) Because the political blogs are all over this, and nobody knows how these new animals on the local political savannah will affect the campaign.

1) Because it's more fun than the last issue, dueling tax abatements.