Today a Florida newspaper reported that the Deputy who stood outside Parkland HS during the shooting is now receiving a six figure pension. The deputy had a base salary of $75,673.72 a year but starting this April is receiving a pension of $104,424 a year. A normal civil servant (like the Federal system I retired from) would have received a pension of $45,000 a year based on the same years served and a $75,000 salary and would have to wait until they were older (60+) to collect without penalty.
The reason for the $60,000 a year BONUS pension is that law enforcement has garnered the best retirement perks in the government. For many civil servants, overtime pay and benefits is not included in the retirement salary calculation. In the Federal system I had to work 42 years to collect a maximum pension of 80% of my base salary. Deputy Peterson worked 32 years before retiring at 55. His pension is more than he earned in 2017. Public safety pensions are the biggest part of the public pension funding disaster. It's not hard to see why. Not only are they far more numerous than librarians or engineers; they retire far earlier for far more money compared to their basic salary. If GOP fiscal conservatives really wanted to control pension costs, maybe they should investigate law enforcement pensions. But then these high paid pensioners carry guns; safer to ignore the 'real cost' problem.
The reason for the $60,000 a year BONUS pension is that law enforcement has garnered the best retirement perks in the government. For many civil servants, overtime pay and benefits is not included in the retirement salary calculation. In the Federal system I had to work 42 years to collect a maximum pension of 80% of my base salary. Deputy Peterson worked 32 years before retiring at 55. His pension is more than he earned in 2017. Public safety pensions are the biggest part of the public pension funding disaster. It's not hard to see why. Not only are they far more numerous than librarians or engineers; they retire far earlier for far more money compared to their basic salary. If GOP fiscal conservatives really wanted to control pension costs, maybe they should investigate law enforcement pensions. But then these high paid pensioners carry guns; safer to ignore the 'real cost' problem.
