Orlando cop gets full disability for Pulse PTSD

Discuss. Sounds like some bullshit to me.

http://www.wesh.com/article/orlando...ptsd-granted-full-disability-pension/10302374

 

I don't doubt that someone could get PTSD from something like that, but you're telling me he can't be put on some administrative duty?

 

Probably BS but someone using the system to their benefit. Her "crying" was laughable though

 

So, 50 k-ish a year after 12 on the force? I'm calling BS on this one....

 

A horrific job but it seems like BS. Lots of vets are continuing on with it. Would impact him? Of course, anyone with any soul would be impacted by the horror of such a thing.

 

I would throw the bullshit flag on that. Ya, it would affect you but render you incapable of working? IMO, someone is taking advantage of the fact that PTSD has become more recognized and using it to take a free ride on the public's back...

 

We have SM in the military getting medically retired for PTSD after a couple years of service without a deployment or seeing combat.

 

When they start giving every combat vet 50k for their service for mental anguish , then we can discuss this matter. It's an insult to the men and women that have/do put their lives in COMBAT situations on a daily basis.

 

I think most of you are focusing on the amount ($$$), his time on the job and the potential that it's all BS.

Let's assume it's not BS, he is f'ed in the head enough to possibly screw up on the next high risk MV stop/robbery call/or gun job and they leave him be.........will it be BS that he was still allowed to carry a weapon when/if he makes a poor choice and his mental state comes into question???

I think you guys are forgetting what his actual job is and what he's entrusted to do..........the odd thing is if he harbored these feelings and kept them to himself OR maybe shared them with family and his closest friends but didn't tell his employer, then got into a bind where he f's up because of his condition....y'all would be here the next day bitching that he should have taken the proper recourse ...... possibly even more harshly from some of the FTP'ers like the pig didn't want to give up his badge, gun and/or authority trip.

Can you see now how many LEO's may feel they're f'ed if they do or don't???

 

We had a young lady get killed at a job I worked. She got caught in a machine and messed her up pretty bad. Tho I didn't see the actual body (wasnt at work when accident happened) I did have to assist in the clean up. Several body parts and a lot of blood. It was uncomfortable to me for a few weeks afterwards , had some trouble sleeping, couldn't get the smell of blood out of my senses especially when back in the plant. I wound up just quitting the job. Didn't apply for disability or shit. Just moved on from it. Shitty thing about it too, it was her daughter's birthday that day..

 

What's the retirement years, 20? He's 8 away from that. They offered him another position. He declined. That should have been the end of it. He quit but they gave him his pension anyway. If he couldn't hack it after the event(and not everyone could) then he choose correct and quit. He shouldn't be getting paid by the state though.

 

This. It's the fact that he turned down another city job (presumably at the same pay.) Now the city has to fund his disability AND pay a new employee.

 

Oh and if this guy gets it imagine anyone involved with deal in north GA a few years back where the crematory was just tossing bodies out back. I imagine that still causes nightmares to people that helped clean that up.

 

Just because I was curious I looked up their pension system and it's very similar to ours here in NJ.

Per the article, they offered him a "different job", not just a new position in the PD, unless you're more familiar with the case than the posted article that tells me that he was possibly no longer going to be investing in his police pension (since he's no longer a police officer) for those additional 8 yrs which means he'd lose those 12 yrs (60%) invested in that system. (By lose, not get the full package deal he'd been entitled to at 20).....BTW, even IF he was offered a deskjob within the PD for the remaining 8 yrs, technically, he'd STILL be a police officer carrying a weapon with a documented case of PTSD, I can tell you with certainty, no Agency would want that liability and NO you can't disarm him if he's still holding that title.

The way you guys are griping about this, I gotta ask, do you feel the same way with all other types of disability pensions related to police & fire???? Or just this cuz you think he's faking it?

The bottom line is when you enter this field (police & fire) it's with the understanding that you can retire in 20yrs with a specific benefit package/pension, which BTW, in NJ 50% of it is SELF FUNDED. And there is an inherit risk level associated with that career that can change those retirement plans at any time. People in this field, pension out after injury all the time, are you folks outraged over those as well?

The guy had 60% of the time invested into this field/pension, to answer your question....NO another job within the municipality would NOT have fulfilled his commitment to the police/fire pension system thus losing those benefits and that makes y'all mad?


It would seem to me as if the gripe is beyond just this case and more so the overall pension/benefit package police&fire receive......am I out of bounds???

 

How does that compare to other non-public jobs that have high injury rates, like construction?
Maybe cops and firemen are expecting too much.

If this were an injury case, it might be different but the PTSD part makes it questionable.
Seeing and interacting with injured and dead people is part of the job.
If you can't handle that aspect, don't be a cop or fireman, or doctor, nurse, undertaker, or cornerworker, for that matter.
It's like a plumber having to retire because he had to handle some shit.
Now if the plumber slips in the shit and hurts his back, then you have a case.

 

Because it reeks of twinkie defense. Certainly if you are a cop/firefighter/or military there are abnormal risks and a shorter career and that should be accounted for. What might be awesome is if we could make law enforcement transition to something else. The person can keep working (earning a higher retirement %) while the public gets more also. Not sure what.

But in this case it seems like BS. What about the many cops that see brutal murders/accidents? Like I posted earlier the abomination in north GA probably made this scene look mild. Yet no early out with $$ there as far as I know. Further as you pointed out there are expectations when you sign on. While the magnitude expected should be lower the tragedy is part of the job all around the country. I suspect in many rural areas it might be harder as the victims and their families might be known personally.

 

And therein lies the problem with FTP'ers, like you Mike and trust me, we all know you exist.

Problem is, a lot of people hate other professions for their salaries, benefits and/or pensions, so how is this any different?

I've recently retired myself, I have family and friends who get a laugh out of teasing me, on occasion, for being sub 50 yrs of age and 'retired'!!! Haha hehe right?
Not ONCE did I hear them wishing to be in my shoes all the years I was working 4 on / 2 off schedule on the midnight shift OR
while working days/afternoons and having to miss out on Holiday dinner/special gatherings because you're working OR
responding to the nightly gun calls OR
having to deal with a fair amount of dead or dying folks whether it was from a crash or victim of a violent crime OR
having to do a family notification of those incidents OR
having to wrestle some naked junkie who's bleeding and/or spitting and/or urinating during the entire process OR
having to physically restrain some AID's/Hep infected scumbag who doesn't give a shit about his own life or others OR
maybe even simply being constantly f'ed with by the very politicians who employ you knowing there really is no recourse for you...

I can probably think of more negatives that come with the job but at no time did I hear them wanting to fill my shoes during all those not so desirable times. Odd huh?

 

Right, let's try to get even more out of guys/gals doing the bottom of the barrel job, for 20+ yrs, that NOT SO MANY 'quality people' are even interested in any longer, mostly due to the ongoing reform on salaries, benefits and pensions........and why? Because sheep doesn't like the idea of folks in that profession retiring after 20+ yrs?

Hey, why stop with only LE personnel in your statement above, what can we make our retired career military folks do after their 20yrs? Maybe pick up trash on the side of the highway you know for a few more % pts on their pension?


Mind you, don't confuse my statements above with being 100% for the disability case above. I don't have all the info involving that guy's case. And even if BS, it wouldn't be the first time a BS case was pushed through and a person was awarded a pension from it.

**And just for clarification, even though his pension was likely 50% funded by taxpayers while he was employed as a police officer, his pension is drawn SOLELY from that fund. In other words, taxpayers are no longer paying his 'disability based' pension.....you folks understand that right??? So those folks scamming their disability are actually putting a drain on the very system being funded by current/active LE.....my point? No one's more pissed about the scammers than police&fire themselves.

With that said though, every one is different, me personally, having been on the accident reconstruction team for nearly 6 yrs midway into my career, I've seen my fair share of dead people but that doesn't mean everyone employed in LE can handle those kind of scenes. I've known cases where officers did fine until they respond to one involving the death of a child and they lose their shit. Over my time, I've seen completely valid disability cases and complete BS ones. But it would seem as if the BS part isn't the issue, it's the mere existence of this kind of benefit for our profession that bothers many of you and that's just sad. I liken that to being pissed at doctors for making so much damn money, which would be stupid too....but that's just me.

 

And therein lies the problem with cops.

Anyone who expresses displeasure with the way cops do their jobs HATES THE POLICE!
It makes a great excuse to ignore criticism.
Excuse me if I don't excuse that childish response, and I say childish because kids overreact in the same way.
Maybe, just maybe, there are actual problems that the police need to address.
Maybe it isn't just people picking on poor grown men who carry guns.