What Happened?
The Milwaukee Police Department is working with the Wisconsin Employees Retirement System administrators to eliminate loopholes in the duty disability system that enables some officers to fraudulently collect disability benefits. Because the police department does not see all duty disability applications submitted to administrators, there is no verification check on whether the claim is legitimate.
The Goal
Disability benefits for police and fire departments provide employees harmed in the line of duty with generous funding and support. When that system is abused, it is a financial strain on taxpayers and weakens the public department’s credibility. The Milwaukee Police Chief is proposing an extra step be added to the disability duty application process that includes checking with the police department to ensure the applicant is not being investigated for misconduct. If there is reason for suspicion, the application will be suspended until the investigation is complete.
Milwaukee lawmakers, however, are interested in taking the duty disability reform a step further by passing legislation to close the loophole permanently and create consequences for fraudulent applications. A system could be established that predetermines which officers are even eligible to apply for duty disability. When an investigation or misconduct occurs, the individuals involved would lose their eligibility. This would prevent an application from moving through the initial phases of approval before being verified by the police department. This could save time, money and resources.
When applications are approved without being verified by the department, officers who may have been fired from their jobs can continue to receive generous pensions on the taxpayer’s dollar for potentially the rest of their lives. Milwaukee has a history of fraudulent duty disability applications, according to a Watchdog Report. At least five officers have received duty disability pensions during or after a disciplinary investigation in the past seven years, which sets each one up with a payout of at least 75 percent of their annual salary tax-free.
Voices of Debate
Police and fire duty disability benefits payouts is a topic of concern in most cities across the country. In New Jersey, the president of the police pension system explains there is a larger problem aside from fraudulent applications plaguing the system. Rather, there should be reforms to prevent duty disability benefits from being paid out to officers who experienced accidental disabilities while working. To do this, the state must redefine what makes up a traumatic event causing a public safety injury to ensure the benefits are provided to the most deserving officers.
In Seattle, a commission was created to study and analyze police and firefighter pension reform options. These larger studies into pension reform included duty disability benefits reform as part of an overarching change to the system such as statewide consolidation and distribution of funds.
Similarly, Montgomery County Council members in Washington, D.C., are moving forward with the potential reforms to the police disability retirement system after an investigation uncovered more than 60 percent of police officers who retired in the past four years receive disability benefits, even if they still hold other jobs.
Plugging The Leaks
Gov1 has kept a close eye on pension reforms, many of which focus strictly on duty disability abuse.