The District’s top law enforcement officer would earn a near record-breaking pension before she turns 50 under a retirement plan the D.C. Council must approve.
Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier, 39, who was formally sworn in Friday, would be eligible for an annual pension equal to 71.5 percent of her average salary if she is separated from her job before her 50th birthday, according to legislation proposed by Mayor Adrian Fenty. Lanier currently earns $175,000 a year, putting her suggested post-retirement pay at roughly $131,425.
The offer also exempts Lanier from the 7 percent salary contribution all MPD officers must pay into the police and firefighters retirement fund.
“The reason she’s getting this pension is because it was committed to her in the contract that the mayor approved and I signed on behalf of the mayor,” D.C. General Counsel Peter Nickles said Monday.
Lanier’s retirement package must be cemented early, Nickles said, to avoid controversy similar to that of her predecessor. The council debated a pension increase for former Chief Charles Ramsey until late December, days before his retirement.
Kristopher Baumann, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, said Lanier’s pension “is not a good message” to the rank and file, who are still waiting for the city to move forward on their bid to reduce the 25- year retirement to 20 years.
“I would like to see the mayor and thecity act as quickly on the retirement issues that affect the 3,600 police officers as they acted on this,” Baumann said. “It’s a very tough message to the men and women that our retirement hasn’t come up yet.”
Lanier, a 17-year department veteran, was sworn in Friday as the city’s 29th chief of police. Her pension would be the most generous since former Chief Jerry Wilson’s $147,840 annuity, which he started collecting in September 1974.
“I think they’re going to have to explain the justification for that,” said Council Member Phil Mendelson, chairman of the public safety committee.
