California Cop Who Killed Unarmed Man Retires on Disability After Eight Years of Service and Will Receive $71K Pension Plus Cost of Living Increases Tax-free for Life
Richmond cop who killed unarmed man to receive tax-free compensation for life
July 23, 2016The Mercury News - The police officer who shot and killed an unarmed man during a brief scuffle in 2014 has retired from the agency but will continue to collect half of his final salary tax-free for the remainder of his life.
Officer Wallace Jensen, 33, who worked at the police department for eight years, received industrial disability retirement, effective this April, said police Chief Allwyn Brown.
Jensen stands to earn $70,700 annually from the disability retirement, according to CalPERS, and will be eligible for cost of living increases.
Only police and firefighters are eligible for industrial disability retirement, which must be signed off by a doctor, according to Kim Greer, a risk assessment manager for the city. Recipients can begin collecting payment the first day they are no longer employed. Sworn personnel can also qualify for a cash payment from the city for their injury.
Brown would not specify the nature of Jensen's disability.
On Sept. 14, 2014, Jensen responded to a nuisance call at a local liquor store, tried to apprehend a young, intoxicated man, scuffled with him when he resisted arrest and fired his gun three times, striking the 24-year-old man in his chest. Jensen told investigators that the man, Richard "Pedie" Perez, was reaching for his gun, and fearing for his own safety, he shot him. But at least four eyewitnesses have disputed the officer's version, saying the young man was only trying to get away.
Several phone calls and an email to Jensen have not been answered.
In February, the city settled with the Perez family, paying $850,000 without acknowledging responsibility for his death. An independent investigation authorized by the city cleared Jensen of wrongdoing, as did a criminal probe by the Contra Costa District Attorney's Office.Despite that, the shooting remains a flash point in the community, fueled in part by the Perez family and their supporters, who insist that the officer be held criminally liable. The Perez family has continued to lobby the Richmond Police Department and the Contra Costa District Attorney's Office to release their investigative findings, including a copy of the police report of their son's shooting and a text he sent minutes before being shot, which they have never received.
"That's one of the reasons we settled because we wanted the information to be made public," said Rick Perez, Pedie's father. "For the most part, it hasn't been."Deputy District Attorney Barry Grove said there is no law requiring agencies to provide police reports to families of victims.
Earlier this month, Contra Costa District Attorney Mark Peterson issued a rare, seven-page report explaining the course of the investigation, in which he maintained that the Perez case was carefully reviewed and that police officers are not given preferential treatment in criminal investigations.
"Our office is willing to file and able to file criminal charges against police officers when it is appropriate to do so," Peterson wrote, adding that he prosecuted three officers in 2014 who pleaded guilty to felony charges, one for use of lethal force, one for stealing naked photos from someone's phone and one for a burglary. All three are no longer employed in law enforcement.
William Tighe • 4 hours ago
ReplyDelete"Jensen stands to earn $70,700 annually from the disability "
$70,700 is half of his salary?
A police officer in Richmond, CA makes $141,400 per year?
FollowAllTheMoney William Tighe • 3 hours ago
Then add a ton of overtime not possible in the private sector.
In any case with retirement benefits you can roughly double their salary to get total compensation. And then remember CalPERS is in debt so it's still not enough to pay them for life.
On the surface it's why paying 1.5x overtime is cheaper than hiring more employees at 2x. So the expense of benefits creates a vicious cycle where it indirectly requires them to work (milk) more overtime.
Ron FollowAllTheMoney • an hour ago
You lost me. The city would have two choices: Adjust the schedule so that no officer works over 40 hours, choosing instead to spread the workload out to keep all officers under 40 hours (or whatever contract standard is), or hire the additional amount of officers needed to cover all shifts at under 40 hours for each officer. I'm unsure as to why you think the city needs to hire 2 new officers to both work the overtime officer's shift.
FollowAllTheMoney
Cities are only now realizing all those bogus union contracts make hiring a lifetime employee is a multimillion dollar commitment.
Only option is OT & not replace retirees because all these "invisible" employees are still being paid - hence these articles of where all the money goes.
meanmarine • 7 hours ago
ReplyDeleteThis case of a civil servant retiring on a disability pension free of all taxes is not an isolated incident. Police, Firemen and others routinely retire with all or a portion of their retirement classified as a disability to avoid paying any taxes at all, These people then go on to obtain jobs elsewhere many in the same fields they left on disability and work until they once again retire with a pension. I am not suggesting that all those collecting disability pensions are not entitled to them but the number of those doing so needs to be looked at and the circumstances must be evaluated periodically rather than not at all to prevent abuse of the system. Case in point, civil service office workers who claim a disability because they fell off a desk they happened to be sitting on, true story.
HawkeyeStocks • 9 hours ago
As someone who has worked with many Cities in California risk management department, there were hundreds and hundreds of disability pensions processed. Not one regular retirement as the police and fire take a hybrid retirement. If you work 30 years at 3% you get regular retirement at 90% of your pay taxable. But if you file disability retirement, half of your final year wages are tax free. When one out of hundreds wanted to file just a regular retirement, one of the Cities asked, "How do I do that? Have never done paperwork for a regular retirement." Where is the IRS in all of this? Sure the cities just rubber stamp all these because to challenge them can be employment suicide. But the IRS never audits and says, "Hey wait, you are not really disabled and are committing tax fraud." And remember before they retire they take 4850 pay, which is full salary tax free for 2 years. Think about that. Full salary tax free. So, you get injured, get a 33% bump in take home pay for sitting home, then exactly after 2 years the full tax free pay runs out and then you say, "Now, I have realized I can never go back. Give me a disability retirement." Amazing that all cop and fireman disability retirements start right after two years of tax free pay.
Low Bounty Contact HawkeyeStocks • 6 hours ago
For a local example of epidemic and systematic "retirement fraud" look at the retirement investigation done on the San José Fire Department a number of years ago. Seems as though a large percentage of firemen take a well timed disability retirement a year or two before their scheduled service retirement with an insignificant, non-life limiting, industrial ghost injury. Simply jaw dropping how these public servants violate the public's trust at a tremendous cost to the tax payer.
FollowAllTheMoney • 5 hours ago
Thousands of 6-figure lifetime pensions are typical.
Meanwhile CA retirement funds CalPERS, CalSTRS, UC, are in hundreds of billions in debt expected to be bailed out by taxpayers and yet we have no money for potholes, infrastructure and education...
Pensiontsunami.com
Will FollowAllTheMoney • 4 hours ago
FollowAllTheMoney Will • 4 hours ago
Too late. CalSTRS is already getting a $5billion annual bailout from taxpayers and school districts as if there's extra money.
Get this: CalPERS simply demanded more in taxpayer contribution...because they finally acknowledged the shortfall in returns. How is that our problem?
In actuality almost every increase in taxes, rates, fees, tolls, etc and new bond measures are for retirement and retirement debt.
Hundreds of billions in taxes have already gone into a non-working lifetime benefit that has turned into a massive Ponzi scheme. They should change that monicker to a "Pension" scheme.
Low Bounty Contact • 6 hours ago
ReplyDelete100K with COLA's in a number of years for shooting an unarmed intoxicated person? This rigged system is run by crooks and based on reports RPD is populated with a bunch of frightened too ready to shoot cops and sexual predators.
Tom Jefferson • 6 hours ago
$70,000 a year at 33? If he lives to 85 (which is reasonable) he will collect more than $3.5 million.
J_H_M Mrs. Newless • 6 hours ago
According to the news accounts, including this story we are commenting on, Wallace Jensen, the Richmond police person who was rewarded with lifetime "disability" retirement for the September 2014 killing of then 24 year old Richard Perez, an unarmed drunk, is 33 years old.
Mrs. Newless J_H_M • 6 hours ago
I think cops live to get the opportunity for permanent disability.
tman1 • 8 hours ago
So the tax payers are on the hook for $70,000/yr plus $850,000 because this jackass screwed up. Wow.. Before long every city in the country will be broke paying the bills from these clowns.
Slick Hillary jtatman1 • 7 hours ago
Nah, they're on the hook because of the political power the public service unions have -- and since they're all 1000% Democrat -- they're all voting for me! Weeeeee!
When they're supposedly hurt on the job, no one will question their ailments or deny a "hero".
Admiral401 • 8 hours ago
$70,000+ tax free for life at age 33 after 8 years on the force! Seems like real incentive to shoot someone, anyone.
Anon22385 pfk93 • 8 hours ago
How about $400k +
http://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/search/?q=police
Norton ToddB • 11 hours ago
They already do, retire with disability from NYPD and can't be a cop there for one, then apply for and work in South Florida police departments. We've had a few do that here in Florida. Which makes me think that these cops have ZERO background checks done on/from where they came from. Their over compensated pension's are going to bankrupt cities soon enough. They make more in retirement than while they were working. Cops lie/obstruct/commit felonies/rape/steal/use drugs and everything else you can think of and still get a pension.
J_H_M • 13 hours ago
ReplyDeleteRichmond Police Chief, Allwyn Brown, can now say if asked about the whereabouts and current job assignment of the Richmond police person, Wallace Jensen, who in September, 2014, gratuitously shot and killed 24 year old Richard Perez in front of four eye witnesses, that Jensen “no longer works for the department.”
Eligibility for “public safety employee’s” disability retirement is determined by the employing agency, not by Cal PERS, and is widely and notoriously used as a way to get rid of problem employees--although at a very high cost to taxpayers. The cost is especially high when someone as young as Jensen, age 33, is put on disability retirement.
The streets of Richmond are no doubt safer with Jensen no longer working as a police person, however, termination for cause would have been a much more appropriate solution.