Police Disability Pensions More Difficult to Get

In 1980, the City of San Diego granted disability retirement pensions to 25 police officers who claimed they had suffered physical or psychological injuries on the job.

Then came the case of Donna Evans.

Evans, a 28-year-old police officer, broke the pinkie on her left hand, and claimed she developed stress after she was harassed by other officers. Evans was granted a disability retirement of $607.20 a month, tax-free, for the rest of her life by the city Retirement Board.

The decision outraged Police Chief Bill Kolender.

“I think it’s sad that the police officers are being asked to sustain her for the rest of her life,” Kolender said at the time. “I think she was looking for an out and a free ride, and she got it.”

Following the Evans case, the city approved measures to substantially reduce the number of officers who receive disability benefits. Last year, only three officers received such pensions.

Ty Reid, director of the San Diego Police Officers Assn., said that city officials, led by then-Mayor Pete Wilson, seized the nationwide publicity surrounding the Evans case to dismantle the disability retirement program for police officers.

“They decided to take the sledgehammer approach and really make it difficult for any police officer to get a disability retirement,” Reid said. “Part of that is anytime an officer exhibits an inability to cope with stressful situations on the street, they won’t . . . help the officer’s case at all.

“If the department were to . . . take a person’s badge and gun away and send him to a psychiatrist, it was felt by city management this would only help the officer’s claims.”

Police administrators said they are charged with the dual responsibilities of keeping a lid on the number of disability pensions and of assisting officers who are injured in the line of duty.

“We watch out for the taxpayer’s pocketbook,” said Assistant Police Chief Bob Burgreen. “At the same time, we watch out for our officers. If an officer has a problem, we take him off duty. We make every effort to rehabilitate him. If it comes to a point in time that our doctor says this guy can’t do it anymore and should never be out there again, then we retire him.”

But, Burgreen added: “We’re not going to let an officer out without doing everything we can to make sure we’re not being had.”

A police officer whose disability claim is approved by the city Retirement Board gets paid one-half of his salary for the rest of his life. A 40-year-old officer with 15 years on the force, for example, would receive close to half a million dollars over a life expectancy of 37 more years.

To qualify for disability retirement, a police officer must be unable to return to work because of a permanent, job-related physical or mental condition that is diagnosed by a physician who is hired by the city.

In 1980, the city toughened the requirements for disability pensions by offering applicants other city jobs in their same classification and salary range, said Robert P. Logan, city retirement administrator. Under these rules, an applicant who is considered fit to report for a comparable job and refuses the offer is not eligible for disability retirement.

The number of disability pensions acquired by police officers has dropped from 25 in 1980 to a yearly average of nine over the last five years, Logan said.

Burgreen acknowledged that, while police officials attempt to hold the line on disability costs, they must worry about the potential liability of employing officers who may suffer from job-related injuries or stress. This is particularly true in San Diego, where the city does not carry liability insurance.

“In today’s world where everyone wants to run to a lawyer and litigate everything, (liability) is a major concern, “ Burgreen said. “ . . . We are always concerned to make sure that the city is protected as much as can be, given the kind of work that we do.”

Burgreen said that his supervisors are more sensitive to the mental and physical health of police officers than ever before. He cited the department’s 5-year-old psychological services program that trains supervisors how to deal with officers who are suffering from job-related stress.

Burgreen said that, out of a police force of 1,492 officers, 65 are temporarily out of work for more than two weeks at any one time due to injuries incurred on the job. He said that 10 to 15 of these 65 officers are on leave for stress-related problems.

Patrick Thistle, a San Diego attorney who represents numerous police officers who apply for disability benefits, said the 65 officers on leave represent only the most serious cases.

“They have absolutely no choice in these cases,” Thistle said. “If there’s any shred of evidence that a guy could be working . . . they are going to order him back to work under the threat of termination.”

One lieutenant said that police administrators have created an environment in which officers are afraid to come forward with their problems.

“You can efficiently set up a real fine, complex program, but if you don’t provide an atmosphere where officers can come in and use it . . . then it fails to be effective,” said the lieutenant, who asked not to be identified. “There’s a real tendency to look at those officers as problems because they’re not out there chasing radio calls.”