Cops Disabled in ’97 Shootout Await Pensions

More than a year after the North Hollywood shootout in February 1997 left two robbers dead and 11 police officers hurt, the most seriously wounded officers--Martin Whitfield and Stuart Guy--are too injured to work but are without pensions or other police in comes.

Since their Injured On Duty pay, which lasts a year, ran out last month, the officers have been living on $465 a week in state workers’ compensation payments. They’re awaiting a May 14 hearing by the city’s pension commission to determine what percentage of their pay they will receive in retirement.

“It’s a sad commentary--you nearly die in the line of duty and you have to fall to state rate to provide for yourself and family,” said Dennis Zine, director of the Los Angeles Police Protective League. “The system is like a rock.”

Los Angeles Councilman Richard Alarcon said he plans to introduce a motion today to explore possibilities of providing money to fill the gap between the end of duty-injury money and the beginning of disability pension payments.

“Is there a way we can provide support in cases where there were serious injuries clearly as a result of on-the-job duty?” Alarcon asked. “I’m exploring the feasibility.”

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Police Memorial Foundation has stepped in to provide grants to the two officers, about $2,100 each per month.

According to the city charter, city employees injured on the job must be examined by three physicians. If they are determined to be unable to return to work, the city’s pension commission--made up of five appointed civilians and a police officer and firefighter elected by their co-workers--then determines what percentage of their pay they will receive as a pension.

“The more disabled you are, the higher percentage of pension,” Roberts said.

But the injuries must be stabilized, meaning that doctors have done all they can to mend the wounded officers and the injuries’ effects are expected to be permanent.

In the cases of Guy and Whitfield, both have undergone surgeries over the year, delaying the medical findings.

Whitfield was shot four times in his arms, thigh and leg. Stuart was hit by two bullets, one of which shattered a leg bone.

Several officers each year find themselves with their injury pay exhausted and no pension, said Sgt. Tom Todaro, who heads the police foundation. He said it can take as long as a year to process a disability pension request, so if officers do not begin until six months into their convalescence, they risk winding up with no pay for some time.

For most officers, the choice to end their careers isn’t easy, which is why they don’t immediately file for a pension, Todaro said.

The Los Angeles Police Memorial Foundation was established in 1972 by Chief Ed Davis to assist officers in times of death, illness and catastrophic need. It provides benefits for families of officers killed in the line of duty, families of civilian employees who die as a result of illness and injured officers who cannot return to work.

The foundation holds a celebrity golf tournament each May that nets about $250,000, Todaro said. This year’s event will be May 16 at Rancho Park Golf Course in West Los Angeles.