December 11, 1997

LEGISLATION PASSED TO FIX DISCREPANCY IN THE ALU-O’HARA PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS HEALTH BENEFITS ACT BENEFITS NOW EQUAL TO WHAT THE OFFICER WAS RECEIVING WHILE ON DUTY

On November 26, 1997, President Clinton signed the Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary Appropriations bill for 1998, H.R. 2267.  Included in Section 615 of this legislation is a provision to fix a discrepancy that had existed after the Alu-O’Hara Public Safety Officer Health Benefits Act was passed in September 1996.

The 1996 law required communities to forfeit 10% of their federal crime fighting monies to ensure that local governments continue to pay health benefits to public safety officers who sustain a career ending injury during an emergency situation.
As a result of a discrepancy discovered between the conference report and the statutory language of the bill, the Department of Justice had narrowly interpreted the provision to require jurisdictions to provide the same level of benefits that they provide to retired public safety officers.  With the passing of H.R. 2267, benefits will now be equal to what the public safety officer was making while on duty.

The original law was named for City of Plantation, Florida Police Officers Joe Alu and Jim O’Hara who were catastrophically injured when they responded to a domestic dispute.  Both Officers Alu and O’Hara were severely burned as they attempted to rescue two young girls held hostage by a deranged man who had doused them with gasoline and set them on fire.  Officers Alu and O’Hara, together with their partner Officer Robin Massey, were among the 1996 NAPO TOP COPS Awards® winners.

While recovering in the hospital, Alu and O’Hara were told their health benefits would be terminated because they could no longer work as cops.  After a huge public outcry, their benefits were reinstated.  With the help of the Florida PBA, the Plantation officers then took their case to the Florida legislature and passed legislation guaranteeing heath care coverage for officers who suffer catastrophic injuries on the job.  NAPO then worked with the officers during their fight to pass similar legislation at the Federal level.
 
SENATE VERSION OF THE “PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE ACT OF 1998” INTRODUCED

On November 12, 1997, Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE) introduced the Public Safety Officers Educational Assistance Act of 1998, S. 1525, in the Senate.  S. 1525 serves as a companion bill to H.R. 2755 introduced by Representative Bart Stupak (D-MI) and Representative Jim Ramstad (R-MN).

If passed into law, the Public Safety Officers Educational Assistance Act of 1998 would provide up to $4,848 per year for college scholarships for dependents of state and local public safety officers who were slain or permanently disabled in the line of duty.  It is an expansion of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Dependents Act of 1997, or the Degan Bill, in memory of Deputy United States Marshal William Degan, who was shot and killed in 1992.

The estimated first year cost would be $780,000, and it would be administered by the Attorney General.  Public safety officers include law enforcement officers, correctional officers and firefighters.  It would apply to public safety officers slain or totally disabled on or after October 1, 1997.

The proposed bill was spearheaded by NAPO, and we received national attention for our efforts.  During a White House Rose Garden Ceremony on October 9, 1997 honoring the 1997 TOP COPS Awards® winners, President Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno announced their support.  NAPO thanks Senator Specter, Senator Biden, Representative Stupak, Representative Ramstad and their staffs for all of their leadership and assistance in introducing these bills.  We will continue to fight for its passage.

NEW DOLLAR LIMITS FOR PENSION PLANS

As NAPO reported to you in August, our efforts in passing several provisions in the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 held many victories for law enforcement, including the removal of the dollar limitation on payment of benefits.

The annual dollar limit on the amount that a governmental defined benefit plan can pay its participants at age 62 has been increased from $125,000 to $130,000.  However, due to the Balanced Budget tax bill, police and firefighters will not face a reduction in the dollar cap for early retirement, regardless of their age when the benefits began.

Also, the amount that public employees can set aside in a Section 457 deferred compensation plan has increased from $7,500 to $8,000.

NAPO PUSHES FOR GOVERNMENT PENSION OFFSET REPEAL BILL

NAPO has announced its support of S. 1365 introduced by Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD).  S. 1365 would remove the offset for anyone whose combined government annuity and spousal Social Security benefit is $1,200 per month or less.  Under current law, a Social Security widow(er)’s benefit is reduced or eliminated if the widow(er) is eligible for a pension based on a Federal, State or local job that was not covered by Social Security.  Social Security benefits of spouses or surviving spouses earning government pensions are reduced by $2 for every $3 earned.

For those with combined amount of more than $1,200, the proposed two thirds offset would apply for any amount over the $1,200.  Government Pension Offset now affects about 210,000 former Federal, State and local government employees including law enforcement officers.  There is no such offset for spouses receiving pension from private sector employers.

S. 1365 serves as a companion bill to H.R. 2273, introduced by Representative William Jefferson (D-LA) also offering a limitation of reduction in benefits for spouses and surviving spouses receiving government pensions.

NAPO SUPPORTS “BULLETPROOF VEST PARTNERSHIP GRANT ACT OF 1997”

The Bulletproof Vest Partnership Act of 1997, H.R. 2829, sponsored by Representative Peter J. Visclosky (D-IN), would establish a matching grant program to help State and local jurisdictions purchase armor vests for use by law enforcement departments.  The grants would be distributed by the Department of Justice, and recipients would be able to reapply every three years.  NAPO attended a press conference to back Representative Visclosky’s bill and is pushing for its passage.

NAPO HOSTS POLICE STRESS-REDUCTION AWARENESS TRAINING FOR POLICE OFFICERS AND THEIR FAMILIES IN DALLAS

In November, NAPO hosted police stress-reduction awareness training for police officers and their families in Dallas, Texas.  This was done in conjunction with a grant awarded to NAPO’s 501(c)(3) research and education organization, the Police Research and Education Project (PREP) by the National Institute of Justice.

The training, offered to attendees free of charge, will increase awareness, understanding and solutions to the personal and organizational stresses that officers and their family members experience.

There were two separate training programs.  The first one was for police department personnel only and the second was for police department personnel and their family members.  The training took place at the Dallas Police Department Training Section Academy.  Our thanks go out to Glenn White, President of the Dallas Police Association for his help in organizing and advertising the program.

Also in conjunction with the NIJ grant, NAPO will be hosting similar training in Minneapolis during the last week of February.

COPS EXPANDS GRANT MONITORING ACTIVITIES

The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) has announced that it will enhance its monitoring strategies as part of its responsibility to oversee nearly 20,000 existing grants.  Monitoring activities conducted by the COPS Grants Administration Division will now shift to a new division of the COPS Office, dedicated exclusively to monitoring.

This change is intended to increase the amount of resources directed toward ensuring that these federally funded grants are properly utilized.  Greg Cooper, a twenty-nine year veteran of law enforcement and former police chief, will head the new Monitoring Division.

NAPO WINDOW DECALS

NAPO’s window decals are ready for delivery!  Initially advertised to members with an estimated price of 25¢ a piece, a substantial price reduction from the vendor has enabled us to sell them for 10¢ a piece.
Help us promote NAPO membership and awareness across the country.  Consider purchasing them for your entire membership!  Call the NAPO office for more details (202) 842-4420.

NAPO NOTICE

In our thoughts is John J. Charters, III, President of the Suffolk County Police Conference (NY), whose brother Philip Charters passed away after a long illness in November.  Philip Charters was a retired Greenport police officer.  Our sympathies go out to the Charters family.
 
NAPO WELCOMES OUR NEW GENERAL COUNSEL

Stephen R. McSpadden joined NAPO on December 2, 1997 as our new General Counsel, filling the position left vacant by the departure of William J. Johnson. McSpadden has vast legal and legislative experience, having worked for the judicial, executive, and legislative branches of the U.S. Government.  He began his career as a law clerk to a Federal district judge in California; he then served for almost four years as a trial attorney for the Antitrust Division, Justice Department, handling civil and criminal litigation.  Thereafter, for almost 17 years, he was counsel and then senior counsel to a House of Representatives Government Operations subcommittee, an oversight and investigations committee heavily involved, for example, with government agency enforcement against financial institution, telemarketing, and securities frauds.  McSpadden also served as the attorney for the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, then for a subsidiary of a regional bank, and more recently, for the House Small Business Committee.

Among other responsibilities, McSpadden will continue to build on the successes of NAPO’s National Law Enforcement Officers’ Rights Center.  Please join us in welcoming Steve to NAPO and take a moment to fill out the enclosed survey to better familiarize him with our members’ legal activities.

NOTICE:  The NAPO Office will be closed December 24-26, 31 and January 1 in observance of the holidays.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!