officers - The Black Vault

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fD·350 (Rev. 5·8·81)
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t • -~~lice; Ma~y ac~~g of,niisco~duct ~itt .disa~~~cy.
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: By RICHARD A. SERRANO ..: m~ 'feel.''..· Asked. ·.wh~ .lle .:one~
TIMES STAFF WRITER • " :nustakenly shot ang paralyzed :!1
! . · ., South-Central. Los ,Angeles gas
f • In .17 years as a 'LoS Angeles station.attendan(ije.plurted_.QUt: ·~r
police officer:, Norman Nelson took 'shot him; that' I? the way .it is:•
;· part in seven shootings. He was · Then 'the pen_ilion · board, ~ it
.. tried three times on :charges of does witli most polic~ .~tress disa-
. raping a woman while .on duty. bility retirement petjti9ns;.granteQ.
.. When he recently strode ·into a Nelson a tax-free pension of 50%
hearing of the city's pension board, of his 'salary, -or ~l;lout $20,000 a
i rettrement when they say they can t -ha,ndle the ,pressure:·
~ . ·,' . . . . . . . .
Date:
Edition:
Title:
LOS ANGELES TIMES
FRI., APRIL 12, 1991
FRONT SECTION, PAGE 1
OFFICERS IN TROUBLE ON
JOB OFTEN GET STRESS
PENSIONS
Charactt:IVIL RIGHTS
or
Classlficalio~ 0-3 3B
Submitting Office:
IDS ANGELES
Indexing:
SEARCHED
SERIAUZEO
APR 1 ! 1991
wearing black boots and a big year. . . . . , • ··~ .
FBI
· Bronco belt buckle, he looked ev- Throughout Southern California~
I ery bit the·renegade, cowboy cop. · many police officers .accused of
~ Then he sat down, and he cried. ·misconduct ~e bei1;1g _awarded
"I pad all this rage in me," he pensions for stress-related jnjuries
said."
they say are caused by job s~en-·
! . Nelson, who was never convict- sions and threatened terminations;
·. ed, today 'lives alone ·in remote crimimil charges fileQ. agai:p.st '
~ Arizona mountains. He refuses to them, and negative media;publici- 7
take medicine for his nerves "because
I don't like the way it makes
ty., _ .·.. · . .. ,.. · --- ' .· -
.Alread;Y,lOl!f. Los _Angele:? Pollee
that along with pension reform,
local police .agencies need .to jm-
1 • · D.ep~.t.rnent offlc?:;s at.t?e l)cen: of prqy~ th~ir ,hiring procedures to
LOS ANGELES I
the _Rodney p. Km~. p~h~e b~a~m~ "find out what's. going· qn with
!ast P}Onth are claimmg ptedi~al these people's lives'~ before they're
ll}!l~~~es-:~ P!~;~rsor .. for a stress.
pens10n.;;tpp~Icat10p.
sworn in as police officers. .
"You hand somebody-a gun, and
. 1n t~~· '~39)11 ~nd Daltor( .case, give .pim a unifor-!ll an(i a badge,
wliere :three .. deJ:?artment officers arid .they are supposed .tp keep the
are on ~r)al .and dozens of others peace,". Elder said. "But who are
ar.e )?eing ~discipli!!ed, city pension tllese people? What do we really
board officials expect a number .of know about them?"
stress disability cla{ins to' fqllow. Othets -defend the system. They
· 'In Long Beach,. t:wq former po· say pqlice work by it~ very nature
li9e offic«rrs how b,ejng tri~d for
assaulting black activist Don.Jackis
strenuous, _and they argue 'that
many officers get into trouble only
son were _granted stress pensions .when they believe there .is no other
late last year. And .:rackson, then a way to relieve the stress and strain
Hawthorne ·police officer, was inherenUn such a dangerous job.
aw.arded a .stress retirement after. Michael Mantell, a San Diego
he.:Claimed emotional problems psychologist who built ·a sizabJe
stemming from the assault. pra~tice treating officers with
. .· . . emotional problems in ·Sbuthl'!rn
1th _a pubh.c outcry th~t many California, said officers claiming a
W
. . ~ohce off1cer~ appear . to be ~tress qis(!.bility undergo a rigoroqs
be~ef~tmg fr~m their own mis~on- inyestigative process lasting an
d~ct, a '.s~te As~embly co~m1ttee . average of two years. Seldom, he
held 'hearmgs l~st week m LOng
Beach to plan reform legislation.
said are troubled cops trying to
che~t the system.
"We're rewarding people who do · "I don't think there;s a' lot of
th.ese· _kind~· :of things,'! said ~om- ·people . going to the bank
mtttee Chairman ,Dave Elder (D-
San Pedro). '"It's -like we're telling
laughing," Mantell said. "There's
not a lot of money itivolved for
police officers that if you really them, considering how long it
want to get out of here, screw up
real big and you're gone. But that is
takes and what they have to go
not the message we want to give
our.employees:" ' . .
. The assembl man su ested
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I /)171
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