If his application is approved, Gomez, 47 — charged last week with felony misconduct in public office — could be paid by the city for the rest of his life. Under state law, a felony conviction would require Gomez to be fired. But if he were placed on duty disability before that, he would be considered retired instead. As a result, he would be paid 75% of his $76,000 salary, tax-free, meaning his take-home pay would be about the same. And he even would get raises, just as he would if he went to work every day. Gomez wouldnt be the first Milwaukee police officer to receive duty disability during or after a disciplinary investigation. At least five others have done so since 2006. Some of the investigations resulted in discipline; some did not. As of July, those five alone had collected $948,000, according to the Employees Retirement System, which administers the program. Gomezs application for the benefit, filed Oct. 25, says he suffered a mental breakdown as a result of 31/2 years spent investigating the murders of nine children — as well as the death of a pregnant woman whose fetus was cut from her womb, killing them both. In his application, Gomez said he had a flashback during his interrogation of Deron Love, the father of a dead baby. Gomez is accused of beating Love. The stress of dealing with the horrific deaths of helpless children finally caught up with my limits of rationalization and my mental ability to absorb the personal trauma, wrote Gomez, who did not return telephone calls for comment for this story. Read more from Journal Sentinel: jsonline/watchdog/watchdogreports/officer-charged-with-felony-seeks-disability-pay-b99132617z1-230445001.html#ixzz2jim6aMAl Follow us: @NewsHub on Twitter
Posted on: Mon, 04 Nov 2013 23:08:19 +0000
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