Whistleblower Pittsburgh cop resigns without explanation

A Pittsburgh police officer who is suing the city because he says fellow officers harassed him over a controversial investigation of a Plum software firm resigned Monday morning, according to his attorney.

Officer Souroth Chatterji, 33, gave no reason for the resignation. He had been a city police officer for seven years.

“We're not speaking to the reasons for the resignation or what the future holds for Officer Chatterji,” Downtown attorney Alec Wright said.

Chatterji, a patrolman in the Hill District's Zone 2 Station, filed a federal whistleblower lawsuit in February alleging Linda Rosato-Barone, an assistant police chief and deputy director of public safety, and other officers harassed and retaliated against him for investigating Plum-based B-Three Solutions. The company builds and maintains computer software and other systems for the police department.

Chatterji said former police Chief Cameron McLay ordered him to investigate the company.

According to the lawsuit, McLay ordered Chatterji to find out whether B-Three's software performed up to industry standards. Chatterji reported the software was either never implemented, did not work or vastly exceeded the cost of similar systems provided by other companies, according to the lawsuit.

B-Three and city officials have said McLay stopped the company from completing its work and the company in March threatened to sue Chatterji for defamation.

The lawsuit alleges Rosato-Barone filed a “baseless” complaint against Chatterji with the Office of Municipal Investigations, made threats against him and refused to promote him to sergeant even though he scored highest of all officers taking a sergeant's exam.

Rosato-Barone's attorney has denied the allegations.

Wright said the lawsuit would continue.

Mayor Bill Peduto told reporters Monday in Homewood that the city disputed the lawsuit's allegations but did not ask Chatterji to resign. He said he didn't know the reason for the resignation.

Peduto noted the FBI investigated B-Three and found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

“There were questions that came up about the practice of how we purchase information technology, not only within public safety but across the board,” he said. “We've been purchasing it department by department, and in many cases the systems that we purchased over decades haven't been able to work together. We now have all of our IT being purchased through our Department of Innovation and Performance.”

Robert Swartzwelder, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Fort Pitt Lodge No. 1, declined to comment on possible reasons for the resignation. He said Chatterji should have been promoted and a union grievance seeking back pay is pending.

“I tried to discourage him from resigning, and I assured him that his grievance would continue,” Swartzwelder said.

In a statement, Wright said the 9/11 terrorist attacks inspired Chatterji to join the military and serve two tours in Iraq.

He became a city police officer after leaving the service and was the only city officer of Indian descent.

“His resignation is a loss for the City of Pittsburgh. He is the type of officer that any police department would be proud to have serving its community,” Wright said in the statement. “Officer Chatterji wishes his fellow officers only safety and success in the future.”

Bob Bauder is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 412-765-2312, bbauder@tribweb.com or via Twitter @bobbauder.