I read the three major Nevada papers every morning, mainly to see who made the legislative section. While I was doing my daily crawl, I discovered an interesting article. The article was on Senate Bill 145 which proposes to give more compensation to police officers and firefighters who are seriously injured in the line of duty.
Now before I continue, I have a disclosure to make. My father has been a police officer my entire life and where he has been injured while at work, it has never been serious. I also received my degree from the UNR Criminal Justice Department and spent many semesters using examples from workmen's comp. Added to that, members of my family and several of my friends serve in either police or military positions. I have often been called sympathetic to those who choose to do such jobs.
Whew, got that out of the way.
The reason I am writing about this particular issue today is because of the article I came across in the Las Vegas Review Journal. A Nevada Highway Patrol trooper was quoted in the article saying "We protect you and we put our lives on the line. If (injury) happens, I want this (compensation) to be higher." This to me causes problems. Whatever the reasons you become a peace officer, you don't do it for the money and if you do, your in the wrong business. Instead, the reason you do it is simply to 'protect and serve'. Correct me if I am wrong, but do you not go into that kind of job knowing that you may be injured or even killed? Are you telling me that you will risk your life, but only if you know that you'll be compensated at a level YOU deem accurate? Is a construction worker who helps to build our high rises worth any less? Is that not also a hig-risk job? (By the way, the trooper who testified is passing his time making a living as a motivational speaker.)
Peace officers are city employees and often times city employees have some of the best insurance plans. Added to that, being injured on the job falls under the category of workmen's comp. In workmen's comp law everything is given a price; you break an arm, it costs this much, cut off a leg, this much. This is universal no matter where you work. Why should police and firefighters be put into a separate category? Does this not just create a split between those who have high-risk jobs versus those who don't?
I am not trying to invalidate the bill, simply the trooper's argument for it. Fundamentally, I think that if we are going to raise the compensation for police and firefighters, we should raise it for all of workmen's comp and disability. I believe that those who risk their lives for others are true heroes and the majority would say that any type of injury or death is simply part of the job.
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3 comments:
Here is an interesting fact. Police officers and firemen injured or killed on the job receive roughloy ten times the amount of compensation as the military men and women with the same situation. Isn't it interesting that they still want more? When firemen/police rarely get sent away from families and never for a year at a time with inconsistent communication home. But they all seem to want more more more. I say that no matter what the compensation it won't bring back your loved ones. I won't pretend to try and put a price on Neal's life, and neither should the police or firefighter families.
Bryna
Well said Bryna!
Jessy's Mom
Full disclosure: I am a police dispatcher.
While I understand your point and I fully agree with Bryna’s argument about military families, I think you are missing an important facet of this little gem.
Police officers and firefighters get paid, usually pretty well, for running into situations the rest of us would do well to run away from. They accept the risks associated with this duty (including death or dismemberment) as a matter of fact. Anyone in either business for the money is doing themselves and their community a grave disservice.
As a city employee, if I fall down and go “boom” on the job, I will be covered under the normal workers compensation system. I do not expect tax payers to give me any additional compensation.
However, a police officer or firefighter who has given ten years of service and has suffered permanent disability while in the line of duty deserves more than 25% of his original wage. Expensive? Sure. But a drop in the bucket, considering there are no officers or firefighters rushing out to get permanently disabled. The beneficiaries of this bill will be hopefully few and far between. It is my opinion that we owe these workers at least what this bill is asking.
Eric
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