Payroll Deduction Authorization Form For Auxiliary: Fill & Download for Free

Original Question: Do the police in the US get benefits like the military?Today there is something like 18,000 law enforcement agencies, and perhaps a million peace officers of various flavors throughout the US, including full-time, part-time, reserve, auxiliary, Federal/State/local (county/city/township)/tribal/special jurisdiction (port authority/airport/harbor/railroad/etc.), corrections, fish and game, park rangers, special investigators, constables, bailiffs, military police, and more, as defined by each jurisdiction.[1]There is no “standard” set of benefits, like there is for the US armed forces.Some Agencies, especially at the Federal level, or State level like the California Highway Patrol, or in high-cost areas like San Francisco, LA, etc., have excellent pay, benefits, and retirement plans.Others…a moderate package of pay, benefits, and pension plans.And others again…not so much.As public safety agencies, all of them are subject to the whims of the budget process for their governmental patron, whether that is the Feds, a State, a tribal nation, a local entity, or a multi-role organization like railroad or harbor or port authority police.Often, but not always, those agencies with unions have better pay and benefits, although sometimes the unions themselves offer some of those benefits, rather than the Agency, so some of the better pay achieved by the unions is plowed right back into union dues and premiums for various benefits offered by their union rather than by the Agency. So it depends.A sampling of various “benefits” among US law enforcement agencies (hereafter “Agencies”) might include:[2]Paid wages/salaries (and possibly overtime).Accrual of paid time off (PTO) for vacation, sick leave, perhaps other special types of leave.Ability to contribute to some sort of typically pre-tax medical, dependent, or elder-care reimbursement plans.Toll-road, ferry, or other transportation stipend or reimbursement program.A very, very few public safety agencies offer some sort of “commissary-like” privilege, with what amounts to a private grocery store with subsidized low prices, or even discounts written into law or a contract with private businesses…but it might happen, especially when a union uses leverage to include such a discount in the bargaining agreement (or the union offers such a benefit to members…regardless of Agency).[3]Virtually all public safety agencies in the US have some sort of state-required Workmen’s Compensation laws and rules in place, to cover “on the job” injuries in the line of duty — in addition to whatever medical coverage is offered HMO’s, PPO’s, usually some choices from poor and cheap coverage up to gold standard coverage that costs a big chunk of the pay check. A severe enough injury/illness caused in the line of duty might result in a disability retirement under the state’s disability laws, or some version of a public safety disability pension, depending on how the specific state, Agency, union, etc., have it set up and the nature of the career-ending injury/illness.[4]Most Agencies (or the unions that represent the rank and file, often up to Sergeant-level) offer some sort of dental and vision benefit (at varying costs and levels of coverage).A certain amount of term life insurance (often about one year’s wages) is usually included as a standard benefit by the Agency, and most Agencies (or unions) will provide supplemental group insurance for the member and perhaps their family members at group rates, if the member wishes to purchase it.Most Agencies offer at least a small gym, or perhaps cover or partially defray the cost of gym memberships, to encourage physical fitness; some will offer an annual stipend for meeting some form of physical fitness testing standard.[5]Most Agencies offer some form of annual clothing allowance to help defray the costs of dry cleaning, repairing, purchasing uniforms and accessories.[6]Some Agencies may offer an annual bonus, depending on their policies, State laws, budget allocations, various standards to be met, etc.[7]Most Agencies offer the use of a firearms training facility, whether attended by range coaches or on the officer’s own time, “shoot/don’t shoot” and simulation training, realistic “shoot house” training with paint balls or simunition, additional decisional training, and additional ammunition to practice beyond the quarterly (whatever the Agencies’ policies are…) qualification process.[8]Many Agencies offer some sort of AFLAC-like income loss insurance, where if a covered health event requires the use of sick leave, the income loss insurance will kick in whatever the covered amount on the schedule of coverage would be, although these policies must usually be paid for by the member.[9]Most Agencies offer some level of tuition reimbursement or educational assistance, especially for training and education that is directly related to their profession.[10]Various benefits available to survivors of officers killed or severely disabled in the line of duty.[11]Many of these benefits are voluntary, and are paid for through either payroll deductions, or through union dues/additional union deductions, depending.Many Agencies provide a “cafeteria-like” menu of benefit options, along with certain group rate discounts, and varying amounts of “cafeteria cash” in each paycheck, beyond their pay, to help purchase medical coverage and other benefits. This cafeteria cash is often pre-tax, along with some other benefit options that are purchased using pre-tax money, resulting in a somewhat lower taxable gross income. The tax rules and other regulations, and union contracts, governing these options are often very complex…And, many Agencies will either pay the entire employee’s share of pension contributions (typically only to defined benefit plans), or match employee contributions (especially for newer pension plans and those using defined contribution plans) up to a certain amount.For example, I worked for a public safety agency that paid my entire 9% of gross pay pension contribution, while also paying another 9% as the employer contribution into my pension plan. In the same county, even in neighboring cities, there were other Agencies that did not use the same method, and their public safety officers paid more or less of their paycheck into their pension fund because their Agencies didn’t pay all of the employee’s contributions like mine did; some of those Agencies required 5–7% contributions out of the employees’ pay…which effectively made a 9% increase in my paycheck and put 18% above each paycheck into a tax-deferred defined benefit pension plan. That’s a benefit, too, as public safety pensions are among the most generous pensions left in either the public or private sector, less the military, federal civil servants, and certain highly paid specialists and executives.CONCLUSION: US law enforcement officers receive a wide array of possible benefits, from very generous pay and sweeping benefits and pensions, down to bare bones paychecks with nothing more than the state-mandated Workmen’s Compensation and Agency-issued equipment. It just depends on which of the 18,000 public safety agencies is the employer.Footnotes[1] https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/nsleed.pdf[2] City of L.A. Personnel Department[3] Benefits of FOP Membership - FOPConnect[4] https://www.poam.net/app/uploads/2018/08/Police-Officers-WC-Rights.pdf[5] U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service[6] 9.050 - Clothing Allowance and Reimbursement for Personal Property[7] Benefits | Evansville Police Department[8] https://www.cji.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/failureofpolicefirearmstraining.pdf[9] https://www.aflac.com/us/en/docs/workforce/viewpoint_government_agency.pdf[10] Benefits - Police[11] https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/bja/fs000270.pdf