Pittsburgh’s police chief puts down his badge for a referee’s whistle

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh’s police chief has retired just a week after making the controversial announcement that he would add refereeing college basketball games to his calendar. Chief Larry Scirotto said in his resignation letter Friday that he did not want the issue to become a distraction for the department. Some city leaders had raised concerns about him refereeing games. The police chief earlier this week had assured the public that officiating roughly 60 games this season would not interfere with his duties and offered to take a pay cut. But some city council members said they wanted more information before approving his salary for next year.