Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl found nothing wrong yesterday with his use of a police vehicle paid for with Homeland Security Department grant funds that he used for business and personal trips.

The mayor also said he supported the safety director's decision to overrule the police chief's recommendation to discipline the sergeant who blew the whistle on that practice.

While saying he stopped using the vehicle when he learned that it was paid for with restricted federal funds, the mayor said he is "not going to change my life to appease the media or appease somebody who wants me to be somebody I'm not."

He declined to criticize Police Chief Nate Harper for the bureau's decision to discipline Sgt. Mona Wallace, who spent at least a month trying to point out problems with the mayor's use of the vehicle.

The mayor took that stance even as U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan said her office will review "allegations regarding improprieties" associated with the mayor's use of the GMC Yukon bought with federal money. "Without complete knowledge of the facts, it would be premature to discuss potential federal criminal violations," she said in a statement.

Mr. Ravenstahl confirmed Tuesday that he used the vehicle, assigned to the police Intelligence Squad, for everything from business travel to Harrisburg to a trip to an Aug. 18 Toby Keith concert at the Post-Gazette Pavilion.

Sgt. Wallace, of that squad, sought to work within the bureau to halt the practice for at least a month prior to that date, said Fraternal Order of Police President James Malloy.

"She tried to tell [her superiors] that he's committing an illegal act" by using the vehicle, said Mr. Malloy. "They basically said, to the best of their knowledge, the mayor can take any vehicle he wants, because he's the mayor."

Chief Harper said that when the mayor's car was in for repairs, or when he needed a larger vehicle, the bureau often sent over the Yukon.

He confirmed that Sgt. Wallace faulted the choice. "When I spoke with her, I said basically, 'The mayor needs a vehicle, we're going to give him the best vehicle available,'" he said.

The mayor typically travels in a Chevrolet Impala assigned to his office, with a police detective as his driver and bodyguard.

The Yukon was one of four SUVs purchased using money from a Department of Homeland Security Buffer Zone Protection Program grant. The federal guidelines for the program forbid the use of the funding for "general-use vehicles."

"It could only be used for surveillance and intelligence gathering," said Mr. Malloy.

"The grant could be withdrawn, and the vehicle could be withdrawn" if it was being used for general purposes, said FOP attorney Bryan Campbell.

When her concerns were ignored within the bureau, Sgt. Wallace complained to Public Safety Director Michael Huss. Sources said she alleged that the vehicle was returned to the bureau on Aug. 21, after the concert, sullied with food and charcoal stains.

Mr. Ravenstahl said a police detective drove him and his wife to the concert and he claimed the vehicle was clean when it was returned.

After Sgt. Wallace went to Mr. Huss with her concerns, the Police Bureau prepared a Disciplinary Action Report against her for violating the chain of command by going to Mr. Huss without permission. The report went from Lt. Jennifer Beidle to Assistant Police Chief Regina McDonald and then to Chief Harper. It initially called for a reprimand, which was later reduced to a counseling session before Mr. Huss nixed it.

"I think the public safety director handled this situation appropriately," Mr. Ravenstahl said. "To the extent that individuals bring information forward, we should embrace that information."

Republican mayoral challenger Mark DeSantis called the Police Bureau's initial decision to discipline Sgt. Wallace "unacceptable ... I've advocated a whistleblower provision that allows anybody in city government, pretty much, if they see something that they're not comfortable with, to state what they see and be clear about it."

He called the use of the vehicle for personal travel "really poor judgment. To say that you don't know that a Yukon with tinted windows and packed with electronic equipment is a police or emergency vehicle is absurd."

At a breakfast speech before the Executive Women's Council at the Duquesne Club, Downtown, Mr. Ravenstahl responded defiantly to questions about his judgment.

"I understand I'm being held to a higher standard but at the same time I'm going to continue to be who I am, because that's the only way I know to be," he said. "Have I learned? Absolutely. Will I carefully consider decisions that I make? Absolutely. But at the end of the day, I'm still going to continue to be who I'm going to be, and go to concerts like I always have, and go to have a drink with my wife in bars. That's what 27-year-olds do and I shouldn't be any different."