Retired Police Officer Accused of Fraud

Monday, March 12, 2018 | 1

A retired Los Angeles police officer was arrested on suspicion of workers’ compensation fraud after he was observed engaging in activities that were allegedly inconsistent with his claimed injuries, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Terry Johns filed a workers’ compensation claim for a back injury in August 2014, one month after he enrolled in the city’s Deferred Retirement Option Plan. The program, pitched as a way to retain veteran officers who were retiring in droves following the Rampart scandal in the late 1990s, was approved by voters in 2001.

Police officers and firefighters at retirement age who enroll continue working for five years while pension benefits are being paid into a savings account.

The Los Angeles Times in February reported that 36% of police who entered the program, and 70% of firefighters, subsequently took injury leave. The City Council called for an investigation into the program shortly after the Times published its story.

The Times has since uncovered a 2016 report finding that the DROP program was flawed and no longer necessary, but it was rejected by Mayor Eric Garcetti, who said the data underlying the report might be unreliable.

Johns is the first enrollee in DROP to be arrested on suspicion of workers’ compensation fraud, the Times reports. Police Chief Charlie Beck said he is not aware of any other ongoing investigations into enrollees.