Report: Seven Fired Officers Rehired Over Two Years

And often, they're rehired with back pay.

NBC 10 reports that seven Philadelphia Police officers — who had been fired after getting into trouble with the law — were rehired between 2010 and 2012, and also paid nearly a half-million dollars in back pay for time lost due to the firings.

The station reports:

City records obtained by NBC10 show that seven fired Philadelphia Police officers were rehired between 2010 and 2012. The records also show that the city paid $491,685.99 in back pay that came from taxpayer dollars.

“They are unilaterally terminated and have to fight their way back on the job through the arbitration process,” said Fortunato Perri Jr., an attorney who represented fired and rehired Philadelphia Police Lieutenant Jonathan Josey. “It’s something that should be addressed and should be looked into.”

NBC10 requested information on how much the city is paying in arbitration costs and whether they’re covering legal fees for the officers. So far the city has not responded to our request.

The report follows, by a year, NBC 10’s discovery that nine out of 10 fired officers are reinstated to the force by arbitrators.