HCPOA NEWS
91% of Applicants for Disability Pay Got It.
Nov 01, 2008 (03:11:22)
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More than 90 percent of Montgomery County police officers who applied for disability retirement benefits in the past decade received them, including one officer who qualified based on a finger injury, according to county records released this week.
The troubled program, discussed at a County Council hearing yesterday, is drawing interest from federal law enforcement officials, who this week subpoenaed the records of Gaithersburg Police Chief John King, who retired from the Montgomery police on disability last year. Asked if Montgomery had also been subpoenaed about the disability program, county officials said they received a federal subpoena this week but would not discuss the subject of the request.
The federal inquiry comes as Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) and the council are working to change the disability retirement system. A report by the county's independent inspector general last month found that more than 60 percent of Montgomery's police officers who retired in the past four years are collecting service-related disability payments.
In comparison, no officers in Fairfax County have retired on service-related disability since 2000, and the figure is less than 1 percent for Howard County's police department.
The report released this week by Montgomery's Office of Human Resources shows that of the 148 officers who applied for disability benefits since 1998, the county's chief administrative officer said yes 134 times -- 91 percent of the time -- to one of three types of disability retirement.
Orthopedic injuries were the basis for almost all the approved claims for service-related disabilities, according to the records. Most were back, shoulder and knee injuries. One was a finger injury. Six were wrist injuries. No details about the injuries were provided.
Retirees who qualify for service-related disability receive two-thirds of their salary tax-free for life. An officer who retires without disability after 25 years generally receives about 60 percent of his or her salary, and the benefit drops significantly when the retiree begins to collect Social Security.
According to Gaithersburg City Attorney Lynn Board, officials there received a subpoena Monday from the U.S. attorney's office seeking information about King, who retired from the county police department last year and receives disability payments while serving as Gaithersburg's chief.
Board said the city had been asked to turn over documents by Nov. 10. The subpoena was first reported yesterday by the Washington Examiner.
Patrick Lacefield, a spokesman for Leggett, said the county has received a federal subpoena but would provide no more information. "Montgomery County will, of course, cooperate fully with any investigation," Lacefield said.
Rod J. Rosenstein, the U.S. attorney for Maryland, declined to comment. "We don't comment on whether we do or don't have pending investigations," he said.
King declined to comment, referring calls to his attorney, Richard A. Finci, who said he and his client were "deeply disappointed that a federal grand jury subpoena has been made public." Finci said that during the disability application process, King was "completely transparent" to all parties involved.
King was appointed Gaithersburg's police chief in April 2007 after a long career with the county police. Leggett has said he was prompted to examine the system in part after hearing complaints about King's case.
Gaithersburg officials said they have notified King of the subpoena. King has said in the past that he has three herniated disks and suffers constant back pain. The injuries date to a 1983 incident when he was on the job as a Montgomery officer. King said he also was involved in at least three vehicle collisions and other altercations with suspects.
He said he applied for disability while still at the Montgomery department because he couldn't do his job as a "police officer," which he said was his status even in his position as an assistant chief. He said he also wanted to document the extent of his on-the-job injuries to make sure health-care claims would be covered.
At a County Council committee meeting yesterday, Phil Andrews (D-Gaithersburg-Rockville) and Duchy Trachtenberg (D-At Large) recommended changes to the system that would probably require legislation. Among their suggestions: create a two-tiered system to provide either a full or partial disability benefit; create a larger pool of doctors to review applications and ensure that there would be experts in relevant medical fields; prohibit an employee who commits an offense that would lead to firing from receiving a disability pension.
Joseph Adler, the county's human resources director, said most of the council's recommendations would require legislation or negotiations with labor union leaders. Walter Bader, a leader of the county's police union, the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35, said yesterday that he and Leggett's aides are preparing to discuss possible changes.
"This doesn't mean there are going to be changes now. I wouldn't read anything into it," Bader said. "We'll talk about our interests and see if we can come to some agreement."
By Ann E. Marimow and Dan Morse
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, October 31, 2008; B05
