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Former chief Harper, partners to terminate consulting firm
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The private consulting business formed last year by former Pittsburgh police Chief Nate Harper and his onetime subordinates will formally dissolve, an attorney for one of the organizers said Monday.
"They're going to close the business as soon as the taxes are paid for 2012. They're going to dissolve the corporation. That's the game plan," said Patrick J. Thomassey, attorney for Pittsburgh police Cmdr. Eric Holmes.
Diverse Public Safety Consultants LLC was formed in 2012 by Mr. Harper, Cmdr. Holmes, Sgt. Barry Budd, Officer Tonya Montgomery-Ford and police bureau civilian Tamara L. Davis.
"It was just better to dissolve the company than try to continue to build it and to keep their personal sanity," said Warner Macklin III, spokesman for Officer Montgomery-Ford and Ms. Davis, both of whom have been put on paid administrative leave without explanation.
The Allegheny County district attorney's office has sent a cease-and-desist letter to the five organizers because of potential violations of the Private Detective Act based on services advertised on the business's now-defunct website.
Mr. Harper has described the business as dormant, a vehicle for his retirement and one not generating revenue or soliciting clients.
Mr. Thomassey, however, said the corporation generated $5,600 in revenue last year with three customers, including the Allegheny County Sports & Exhibition Authority. Also, he said, there was consulting work done for a client in connection to the Super Bowl XLVI, which was in Indianapolis in February 2012.
Mr. Thomassey also addressed his client's full-time job as interim police chief at Slippery Rock University from August 2007 to July 2008 while he was a full-time sergeant.
Mr. Thomassey said he has emails -- which he would not share -- between Cmdr. Holmes and the city Law Department authorizing the second job after his client sought advice.
"I have a memo from the city Law Department OK'ing that position," Mr. Thomassey said. "He absolutely did this thing the proper way."
First Published March 12, 2013 12:00 am
