A Bridgeport councilwoman is requesting an injunction to keep the acting chief of police from going forward with a shuffle at the top of the force.

Capt. Brian Fitzgerald, who headed up the high-profile Detective Bureau, was moved to the Patrol Division. Capt. Roderick Porter, who led the Community Services Division, also got shifted to patrol. Sources say the two will run the division together.

Councilwoman Maria Pereira says acting Chief Rebeca Garcia’s decision was “payback”

The reorganization, which also involves three other police officials, comes one week after Mayor Joe Ganim was served a subpoena at a Three Kings Day event at a local school – part of a civil suit brought by the captains in question who challenged the legitimacy of Garcia as acting chief.

RELATED: FBI: Bridgeport police chief, personnel director charged with rigging 2018 police chief exam

"Suddenly, all of these people who have suits against the city are, in essence, demoted within their ranks," says Pereira.

With the Bridgeport murder rate at its highest in years, Pereira says the shake-up couldn't come at a worse time, moving a seasoned homicide investigator out of the spot where she says he could do the most good.

Pereira says Ganim had been dodging the subpoena because he doesn't want to answer questions about an appointment in the midst of an ongoing federal probe into his former chief of police, AJ Perez.

"Does anybody believe that Mayor Ganim wants to be under oath in a deposition while the FBI is entrenched in Bridgeport investigating everything that happened with Chief Perez and [former City of Bridgeport Personnel Director] David Dunn?" asked Pereira.

City officials say acting Chief Garcia was perfectly within her rights to make "personnel adjustments." They deny there was any retaliation involved.