Off-duty police officers held a raucous demonstration Tuesday at a construction site in Woburn, a suburb north of Boston, The Boston Globe reported. The civilian flaggers routing traffic were the first under Gov. Deval Patrick's new rule.

One flagger was surrounded by about 50 officers holding signs that said "Governor Patrick doesn't care about safety."

"I hope you sleep at night," Stoneham Patrolman Joe Ponzo called, the report said. "You should be ashamed of yourself -- you're union. This is a travesty."

The officers say that having civilians direct traffic is unsafe. They may also be concerned about losing $45 an hour in overtime pay.

Highway Commissioner Luisa Paiewonsky said at a news conference in nearby Arlington that the demonstrators may have broken the law.

"Walking by the dozen into an active work zone is not OK, not safe, and when people are protesting in support of public safety and creating an unsafe condition, we have to take action," she said.