Appellate Court Sides with PFRS, Denies former Gloucester City Cop's Appeal
Tuesday, June 27, 2023
William E. Cleary Sr. | CNBNews
GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ (JUNE 26, 2023)(CNBNews)--A former Gloucester City Police Officer, who was denied ordinary disability retirement from the Board of Trustees of the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System (PFRS) appeared in the Superior Court of New Jersey last month seeking an overturn of the Board of Trustee’s ruling. The decision on that case was released on June 15, 2023.
To qualify for the union's disability retirement benefits (ODRB) an applicant must meet a certain criteria. To be specific an applicant must demonstrate they are mentally or physically incapacitated for the performance of their unusual duty and of any other available duty in the department which their employer is willing to assign to them. Members, are required to make a prima facie showing that they cannot work due to a disability stated the court. On June 15, 2021 the PFRS Board of Trustees ruled that the applicant did not meet any of those requirements.
As a result of the denial, the applicant filed an appealed which was heard on May 23, 2023.
The former officer, who was arrested for drunk driving after he graduated from the Police Academy in 2013, was not identified in the court’s decision by name. Instead he was identified by the initials S.O. Even though the new officer was found guilty of DUI and lost his driving’s license for six months, the City of Gloucester City hired the individual. He was employed by city taxpayers for six years (March 2013 until September 2019).
According to the appeals document, the unnamed former officer admitted he had a long history of alcohol and substance abuse. Even after graduation from the police academy and was arrested for driving under the influence he admitted that he continued to abuse alcohol and opioids. Eventually he enrolled in a five week rehab program and returned to full duty in August 2015.
The appeals document stated, in July 2018 the officer sustained an off-duty injury that required surgery. To treat his pain, the officer was prescribed several medications, including oxycodone. Nearly one year later in May 2019, he blacked out after ingesting oxycodone and fell down a flight of stairs at home. Paramedic administered NARCAN® for the officer’s “accidental overdose of prescription medication”.
An internal affairs (IA) investigation ensued.
(The following is from the transcript of the appeals court proceedings).
During the investigation, S.O. disclosed "he was taking a number of medications that he had not previously reported to [the] GCPD," notwithstanding the department's reporting requirements. S.O. further disclosed "he was taking a particular medication for anxiety and depression" but later contradicted that account, claiming he was using that medication to treat his attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
During the investigation, S.O. disclosed "he was taking a number of medications that he had not previously reported to [the] GCPD," notwithstanding the department's reporting requirements.
August 2019, the Gloucester City Police Department issued a preliminary notice of disciplinary action (PNDA), seeking S.O.'s removal based on the following charges:
• Incompetency, inefficiency[,] or failure to perform duties
• Inability to perform duties
• Conduct unbecoming a public employee
• Other sufficient cause
• Violations of GCPD rules and regulations: Failure to conduct himself with high ethical standards. o Standards of Conduct. o Physical and Mental Fitness for Duty. o Alcoholic Beverages and Drugs. o Truthfulness. .
Pursuant to the terms of the parties' ensuing settlement agreement, S.O. agreed to permanently separate from employment with the GCPD, and the City of Gloucester City agreed to withhold formal charges against S.O. The agreement also required S.O. to resign from his position one day after he resumed employment if he were reinstated under N.J.S.A. 43:16A-8(2).
CNBNews was unable to find how much the former officer's settlement cost the taxpayers of Gloucester City. However, we plan on continuing our investigation as we believe you HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW.
In January we published a similar article about a city fireman who set a co-workers pants on fire. Click on the link to read it. A MIND-BOGGLING STORY: Gloucester City Fireman Sets Coworker's Pants On Fire
There are some similarities between the two articles. For one, that fireman was also arrested for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) an like the police officer in this article he was not terminated from his job.
To read the entire 10 pages of this decision click here
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EDITOR'S Opinion-- Presently we are working on another article that will reveal that Gloucester City Police Officers are one of three police departments in the entire state of New Jersey with the highest salary. Gloucester City is also one of 30 communities with the highest property taxes in the state.
How can that be, you ask? One possibility that comes to mind is the fact that for many years the council included three retired members of the city police department, along with a retired city public works
superintendent, and two council members who were Camden County employees. Lastly, you have a police chief who is also acting as a City Administrator for the past three years.
Once again we will draw attention to these facts; residents living here are so poor the City qualifies for being designated an ABBOTT District, one of only 31 in NJ. And, because the residents are so poor it also qualifies to be designated as a Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ), one of only 38. Twelve of those cities will lose that distinction in December. But, Gloucester City is not among them.
New Jersey has the highest property taxes in the nation. Older residents are leaving in droves. To stop that exodus, Governor Murphy has proposed a 50 percent deduction in taxes for senior citizens. If approved that reduction wouldn't happen until 2026, or there about. One of the other savings proposed is to do something about school taxes which are considered to be one of the main reason for property taxes being so high.