The number of Montgomery County police who have filed for disability retirement payment has tripled in the past three and a half months compared to the same time period last year.
According to information presented at a County Council hearing Thursday, at least 15 police officers have applied for disability pensions since the beginning of October 2008, compared with five officers from the same time window last year and six officers two years ago.
In September 2008, the county’s inspector general released a report saying that the county didn’t have enough oversight to prevent abuse of the disability pension plan and reforms were needed.
The council’s attorney, Robert Drummer, said the report might be the reason more police officers have filed for disability payment.
“It’s sitting out there,” Drummer said. “It could be an explanation, but it may not be.”
Andrews and Councilmember Duchy Trachtenberg have proposed legislation seeking to strengthen control over the disability program for county employees. Their bill would allow the county to differentiate between for partial and full disability pay, instead of treating every disability as a full disability as the county does now.
It would also allow the county to prohibit disability retirement pay for employees who are fired or resign for serious crimes or misconduct.
“It’s a system that doesn’t effectively discriminate between meritorious claims and dubious claims,” Andrews said.
County Executive Ike Leggett has also pushed for more oversight and similar changes.
Public safety union officials have opposed the Andrews and Trachtenberg’s efforts, saying the two are trying to erode their members’ benefits.
Councilwoman Valerie Ervin asked county officials for more data, saying the numbers provided regarding disability applications were incomplete and cautioned the public from drawing false conclusions.
“That doesn’t tell the whole story as far as I’m concerned,” she said.
