Disability for Officer in Deputy’s Death

I am writing concerning the decision to grant a service-connected disability to (Orange County Sheriff’s) Deputy Brian Scanlan. I am in total disagreement with the decision to grant an early retirement to a deputy who by all standards failed to properly respond during a training exercise.

To reward this individual with an early disability retirement, which not only rewards his incompetence but places the burden of paying his taxes upon the remainder of the productive citizens, is irresponsible.

I am requesting that the sheriff review this injustice and consider the effect that this type of action has on the rest of the taxpayers.

DARRELL MILLER

Santa Ana

* You reported that the president of 100 Black Men of Orange County Inc. said that he believed that the granting of a disability retirement to former Deputy Brian Scanlan was an affront to black people and to other citizens of Orange County and that justice was not served (“Ex-Officer Who Accidentally Shot Deputy to Get Retirement,” Feb. 16).

Reportedly, Mr. Wheeler asked the question, “Why should they pay retirement for life to an employee who violated safety policies?”

The question reflects a common misperception of the Orange County Employees’ Retirement Assn. (OCERA) and the Board of Retirement, which administers this pension trust fund.

OCERA is a separate legal entity, not a department of the county of Orange. OCERA controls the funds paid in by and on behalf of employee members of the association. OCERA is administered by a board, which must perform its duties according to the contractual and fiduciary obligations owed to the members.

OCERA is not responsible for administering justice in the abstract. OCERA does not administer the county personnel or civil service rules and is not a civilian review board.

OCERA has a duty to pay disability pension benefits to a deputy who proves his or her disability case with solid medical evidence. The OCERA fund does not belong to the county.

It is a trust fund into which Deputy Scanlan, like all other county employees, contributed a portion of every paycheck he earned.

Claiming that the granting of the disability retirement was an insult fails to take into account the constitutional dimensions of the retirement board’s responsibility.

It is not the responsibility of the board to administer “justice” in the sense suggested by Mr. Wheeler. The board’s action to grant the disability retirement in this unpopular case is a tribute to the faithfulness of the board members to their legal responsibility to administer the trust funds according to law, on behalf of all county employees of all races.

Fortunately, the survivors of the fallen deputy will also receive benefits from the same fund as a result of the years of Deputy (Darryn L.) Robins’ faithful county service and the money he contributed to the pension fund.

The board’s decision does not reflect any judgment on the underlying shooting incident.

Therefore, the board’s decision cannot be either an insult or a denial of justice to black people or the citizens of Orange County.

EDWARD L. FAUNCE

Seal Beach