Chairman of Police Union Hits Back Hard Against the “Negotiated Separation Agreement” Made With Former Acting Chief Pittman
During yesterday’s House Administration Committee’s testimony by the U.S. Capitol Chief of Police J. Thomas Manger, I tweeted in real-time:
“Griffith is having Manger explain why Pittman’s ‘leave without pay’ is assisting her in qualifying for enhanced retirement benefits, despite the fact she is already Chief of Police at UC Berkeley. Manger obfuscates again. Her USCP retirement is not effective until June of this year. This was negotiated without approval from Capitol Police Board.”
Later in the day, Joe Hanneman of The Epoch Times filed a story with a more detailed report of the testimony:
U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) granted former Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman five months of leave without pay after she departed for a new job, an arrangement that qualifies Pittman for pension benefits but violates department policy, a congressional panel was told on May 16.
Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger told the Committee on House Administration that he negotiated the arrangement with Pittman and her attorney. The Capitol Police Board, which oversees the USCP, was not consulted, he said.
“This was a negotiated separation agreement,” Manger said in response to questions from U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.). “I signed off on the decision.”
The Epoch Times was able to get a response to this revelation from Gus Papathanasiou, Chairman of the U.S. Capitol Police Labor Committee, in which he offered scathing statements directed at the “negotiated separation agreement,” USCP Chief Manger, and former Acting USCP Chief Yogananda Pittman.
“The front-line officers at USCP and MPD paid a horrible price for Pittman’s incompetence,” said Papathanasiou, “and the failures of USCP leadership at the very top that could have been prevented had we had competent proactive leaders at the very top.”
“The idea that the department cut her a special deal that allows her to take a job with UC Berkley Police Department that pays a lucrative salary while still on the USCP payroll is scandalous and indicative of why we have a morale problem at the department.”
In reference to the Union’s February 2021, 92% no-confidence vote against Pittman — only 5 weeks after the events of January 6 — Papathanasiou issued his most pointed remarks, saying, “Our Union vote of no confidence spoke volumes after Jan 6th. Pittman went unscathed after Jan 6th, yet she went after our officers who received harsh discipline. No officer should have been disciplined as a result of Jan 6th as the department’s top leaders hung us out to dry. Pittman should have been fired Jan. 7th.”
In my 3-part series on the Capitol Police, I detailed the heroic actions of former USCP Lt. Tarik Johnson on January 6 and his subsequent suspension. I also published a roll-out of my lengthy ‘tweetstorm’ on Pittman’s negligence that day. These and other supportive links to this story can be found here:
STATEMENT FROM GUS PAPATHANASIOU Chairman of the U.S. Capitol Police Labor Committee
The Epoch Times story, (with paywall bypass link)
Capitol Police Were Sacrificial Pawns on Jan. 6 – (Part 1)
Capitol Police Were Sacrificial Pawns on Jan. 6 – (Part 2)
