Officer charged with killing George Floyd still eligible for pension worth more than $1 million
Officer charged with killing George Floyd still eligible for pension worth more than $1 million
By Blake Ellis and Melanie Hicken, CNN
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/12/us/chauvin-minneapolis-police-pension-invs/index.html?utm_source=fbCNN&utm_medium=social&utm_content=2020-06-12T11%3A32%3A06&utm_term=link
Updated 7:11 AM ET, Fri June 12, 2020
All four ex-officers charged in Floyd's death amid protests
(CNN)
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Derek Chauvin, 44
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While a number of factors are used to calculate pension benefits, Chauvin would likely be eligible for annual payments in the ballpark of $50,000 a year or more if he chose to start receiving them at age 55, according to a CNN analysis based on Chauvin's tenure, 2019 payroll data, contract details, pension plan guidance and Minneapolis Police Department salary schedules. The benefits could stretch to $1.5 million or more over a 30-year period, not including any cost of living increases. Chauvin's annual payments could be even higher if he received significant amounts of overtime in prior years.
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Public pensions are paid for through a combination of contributions from taxpayer-funded local governments and workers themselves, as well as investment returns. Public safety pensions are typically some of the most generous and have caused local and state budgets to balloon around the country.
But they are almost impossible to reduce or take away from workers who have been promised them in public employment contracts, and police unions have fought hard to protect worker pensions. Officers also usually pay some of their own salaries into the funds and typically receive their pensions in lieu of Social Security.
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The laws governing whether pensions can be stripped from police accused of misconduct vary depending on the state. Less than half of states have laws that allow for pensions to be taken away from police who were convicted of any kind of felony, while some other states allow pensions to be taken away for specific crimes like corruption or sexual crimes against minors but not for the conviction of an officer for using excessive force, according to 2017 research published in the Journal of Law, Economics and Policy.
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