PITTSBURGH — The city's deputy police chief warned officers not to call in sick without reason — sometimes called blue flu — or cut back on patrols in response to a magistrate's dismissal of charges against a teen who claims he was wrongly beaten by police.

Deputy Chief Paul Donaldson said in an e-mail to officers over the weekend that he "heard some disturbing rumors that some officers are contemplating a work slow down or diminished patrols" because of the Jordan Miles case.

Miles, 18, a black performing arts student, claims three white plainclothes officers beat him Jan. 12 because they assumed he was a troublemaker.

A city magistrate last week dismissed prowling and assault charges against Miles after a homeowner contradicted police accounts that Miles was lurking near a stranger's house. The homeowner testified at a hearing that she knows Miles, who is friends with her son.

The three officers have been suspended with pay during an internal investigation. They claimed Miles was acting suspiciously and thought he might have a gun — which they said turned out to be a soda bottle — when they accosted him.

Miles said he wasn't even holding soda and fought to get away from police simply because they didn't identify themselves as such. He was a short distance from his mother and grandmother's homes when the officers grabbed him.

The district attorney is reviewing the case to determine whether to refile the charges.