A large number of police officers across the region aren’t getting physical exams, a concern to some officials at a time when the rate of police disability payments is soaring.
In Montgomery County last year, one in four police officers missed the mandatory county physicals intended to determine their fitness for duty.
And the Prince George’s police department has no requirement for mid-career health exams, police spokesman Henry Tippet said.
In 2007, there were 759 officers due for exams, but Montgomery’s Occupational Medical Services saw only 561, or 74 percent, of those officers, according to Patrick Lacefield, spokesman for Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett.
Montgomery County Council Vice President Phil Andrews said that lapses are a “big concern.”
“We have this to catch problems early and help people avoid potentially life threatening illnesses and also to ensure people remain in physical shape that is adequate to do their jobs,” Andrews said.
The high number of officers not taking physical exams may be taking a long-term toll on county budgets, officials said.
A Montgomery County audit set to be released next month is expected to show that more than half the county’s police officers who retired in the past three years are receiving disability payments, said Andrews, who saw a preliminary report.
Council Member Duchy Trachtenberg said, “It is clear the [work-related disability retirement] system is broken and we have to fix it. The council, the unions and the county executive will all need to play a role in this.”
Montgomery County police spokesman Lt. Paul Starks said officers 40 and older are required to have a county physical once a year, while workers in their 30s are scheduled for the exam every two years and those younger than 30 every three years.
Counties in Virginia, including Prince William, Arlington, Fairfax and Loudoun, have similar requirements for medical exams based on a sliding age scale. But unlike Montgomery, police officials in Virginia said they don’t have a compliance issue.
In Fairfax County, 75 percent of the force has volunteered for a wellness program that requires officers to get annual medical check ups regardless of age. And in Arlington supervisors receive notice if officers miss an exam. Each Virginia county reported repercussions for missing physicals that could eventually lead to an officer’s dismissal.
The contract between the county and the Montgomery County police union says the county physical is designed to, in part, “provide the employer with a written recommendation on whether the employee is fit for duty.”
Starks said it would be a “worst-case-scenario” to say skipped exams means unfit officers are currently on the county’s force.
The union contract stipulates appointments missed for “inexcusable circumstances may be reviewed by the Commanding Officer who may take appropriate action.”
Starks said he did not know if officers had been disciplined for missing exams or what repercussions could follow.
Chief Manger told department leadership last week, “we could do better about this,” Starks said, but any consequences would have to be worked out in contracts.
