162 Officers Transferred Amid Philadelphia Probe

Shaken by the prosecution of six police officers for faking evidence and shaking down suspects, Police Commissioner Richard Neal said at a news conference Friday that he had ordered 162 officers transferred.

Neal had sent a message to station houses Thursday night ordering the officers to switch districts.

Of those reassigned, 20 came from the city’s 39th police district, focus of the federal probe into police misconduct, a police spokeswoman said.

Neal said there was no evidence of corruption by the officers reassigned. Further transfers were likely.

The moves were immediately attacked by the city’s police union, which filed an unfair labor practices complaint and said the transfers were retaliation for the union’s opposition to Mayor Ed Rendell. Neal denied that the moves were politically motivated.

Rendell won reelection in a landslide Tuesday over a Republican opponent supported by the union.

Three people jailed on the basis of testimony by the six officers are suing the city. Nearly 50 cases have been thrown out and hundreds are under review. The six officers have pleaded guilty and await sentencing.