[Employee_relations] CHP "Chiefs Disease"

[Amy Brown]

CHP urges pension probe
Disability retirements may involve abuse or fraud, a report concludes.
By John Hill and Dorothy Korber -- Bee Staff Writers
Published 2:15 am PST Wednesday, December 1, 2004
Fifteen medical pensions granted to California Highway Patrol officers in
the past four years warrant investigation for abuse or fraud, and some could
result in criminal charges, according to a CHP report released Tuesday. 
Spurred by a September investigation in The Bee, the report calls for an
ambitious overhaul of the department's own procedures for handling workers'
comp cases and medical pensions, as well as changes beyond the power of the
CHP.
"The system and programs were designed and implemented for a worthy
purpose," the report states, "yet, over time, they have become mired in cost
overruns and suspicion of misuse and outright fraud." 
CHP Commissioner Mike Brown ordered the review of all medical pensions
awarded since 2000, as well as department procedures, shortly after he was
appointed in September. The lucrative pensions, reserved for public safety
employees, shield half of retirement income from taxes. 
Brown said Tuesday that the department already is acting on many of the
recommendations. 
"We are going to do everything we can to make sure that our house is in
order," he said. "We are taking this very seriously." 
The report calls for assigning injured officers to less strenuous
assignments, hiring legal counsel to analyze workers' comp cases, and
establishing a hotline or Web site to report fraud. 
It also proposes fixes that would have to be approved by the Legislature or
others. These include scrapping the tax benefits of some medical pensions,
limiting pensions when retired officers go on to other law enforcement jobs,
and revising laws that automatically presume certain injuries - including
cancer and heart trouble - were caused by the job. 
The investigation published by The Bee described a phenomenon known within
the CHP as "Chief's Disease." High-ranking officers, nearing the end of
their careers, routinely pursued disability claims that awarded them
workers' comp settlements. That, in turn, led in many cases to disability
retirements. 
As they collected their disability pensions, some of these former CHP chiefs
embarked on rigorous second careers - one as assistant sheriff of Yolo
County, for example, another as the security director for San Francisco
International Airport. 
The Bee's articles led state Sen. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, to call for
a legislative hearing on the abuse of disability retirements in the CHP and
other public safety agencies. That hearing is set for Jan. 24. 
After reviewing the CHP report, Speier said that while Brown's
recommendations are sound, more needs to be done. 
"They probably don't go as far as they need to go - we will explore that in
the hearing," said Speier, chair of the Senate's government oversight
committee. 
Speier said she was disheartened by the report's findings. 
"More than 200 CHP officers have died in the line of duty - more than any
other law enforcement agency in the state - and it sickens me that this
ultimate human sacrifice is cheapened by a dynamic that defrauding the
system is somehow acceptable," she said. "The whole value system within the
institution needs to be polished." 
Speier emphasized that any cases of fraud should be turned over to criminal
prosecutors and publicized. 
"That sends a huge message - and an appropriate message - to everyone in the
Highway Patrol that such abuse will not be tolerated," she said. 
Jon Hamm, executive director of the CHP's union, the California Association
of Highway Patrolmen, said he could not comment on the report because he had
not yet read it. 
But he said the union should be consulted about changes. 
Brown, who was named CHP commissioner a week after The Bee's investigation
was published, ordered the 45-day study of the problem by the Workers'
Compensation Fraud Audit Task Force, composed of CHP investigators, in
September. Brown also revived a separate special unit that in the early
1990s targeted workers' comp fraud within the department. 
The report confirmed many of The Bee's findings. For instance, it documented
that the earlier workers' comp fraud team had a dramatic effect, resulting
in lower-than-expected injury costs. 
But, for a variety of reasons, the unit fell apart, and workers' comp costs
soared. 
The report said that the newly revived unit will be triple the size of its
predecessor, and will include an assistant chief, a lieutenant, eight
sergeants and an officer. 
The report validated the "chief" aspect of Chief's Disease, finding that
medical pensions occur most frequently in the highest ranks. 
More than 80 percent of assistant chiefs, for instance, received disability
retirements in the past four years - compared to 60 percent for the
department as a whole. 
This is explained in part, the report notes, by the fact that higher-ranking
officers tend to be older and have served longer than their lower-ranking
counterparts. 
Brown would not comment on whether the cases detailed in The Bee's
investigation are among the 15 that warrant further investigation. The
report says that the 15 "have indicators of potential abuse." If further CHP
investigation appears to substantiate that abuse, the cases will be referred
to local prosecutors. 
Another 20 cases raised enough suspicion that they are being forwarded to
the California Public Employees' Retirement System for further review.
Cal-PERS, which administers retirement benefits for state and local workers,
decides whether to grant medical pensions. 
The report found that an attitude tolerant of abuse prevailed at the CHP. In
this atmosphere, some retirees worried about pursuing injury claims
"ultimately decide that, since many others have taken advantage of the
system, they should too." 
It identified failures of CHP supervisors to follow department policy on
injury claims, including flagging questionable claims. 
The department's records of injury claims also fall short, the report said,
and officials in the CHP and other agencies that deal with claims failed to
communicate with each other as the claims moved through the system. 
The report describes earlier reform attempts and says that the department's
past recommendations did not lead to legislation. 
This time around, the state Business, Transportation and Housing Agency will
review the report and forward recommendations for action to Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger, said agency spokesman Patrick Dorinson. 
The report emphasizes that working at the CHP is a dangerous business, and
that officers injured in the line of duty need to be treated fairly. 
But it added, "any practice that casts doubt" on the CHP's integrity "must
be identified and eliminated." 
Curing CHP 'Chief's Disease'
Highlights from a new report on disability retirements in the California
Highway Patrol:
* "Chief's disease" - the tendency of CHP top brass to take disability
retirements at career's end - is real. Assistant chiefs, for example, take
disability retirements at a rate 33% higher than rank-and-file officers.
* An analysis of all CHP disability retirements since 2000 found 15 cases
that may warrant criminal prosecution.
* Another 20 questionable cases have been referred to the state retirement
system for investigation. * The percentage of CHP officers taking disability
retirements increased from 47 percent in 1996 to a high of 82 percent in
2002.
* The number of disability retirements spiked in the late 1990s when the
patrol's fraud investigation team was disbanded.
* CHP workers' compensation costs last year totaled $67 million, nearly
one-tenth of the patrol's total payroll and up 86 percent since 1995-96.

Amy Brown
Governmental Advocate
KAHN, SOARES & CONWAY, LLP
1415 L Street, Suite 400
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 448-3826
(916) 448-3850 Fax
abrown at kscsacramento.com
www.ksclawyers.com
 
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This transmission including any attachments is
confidential and may be legally privileged.  If you are not the intended
recipient, or their agent, you are hereby notified that reading, disclosing,
copying, distributing or using any information contained in this
transmission is strictly prohibited.  If you have received this transmission
in error, please immediately notify us by e-mail or by telephone at (916)
448-3826 and destroy the transmission.  Thank you for your assistance.
 

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: winmail.dat
Type: application/ms-tnef
Size: 8414 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.cacities.org/pipermail/employee_relations/attachments/20041201/6cde88fc/attachment.bin>