Female cops kept from guarding players

PITTSBURGH, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- A Pittsburgh police officer says she was blocked from guarding the Pittsburgh Steelers football team at a local hotel because she is a woman.

Officer Cynthia Ferretti and her supervisor wrote formal complaints after Officer Kevin Head asked officers if they were interested in an off-duty work assignment at the Hilton Pittsburgh, where the Steelers stay before home games, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said Thursday.

Head said he declined to put female officers on the Steelers’ floor because the players often walk down the hotel hallway naked.

"They just couldn't work the floors where the guys were with no clothes on. I don't know why everybody's blowing this out of proportion,” he said.