Support HB 1679
http://www.leoff1.net/articles/94/1/Support-HB-1679/Page1.html
By Jerry Taylor
Published on 02/13/2010
(Editor's Note: This article was extracted from SPOG President Rich O'Neill's February 2010 article in the Guild newsletter, The Guardian.)
The terrible ordeal of Seattle Police Officer Jason McKissack has rightfully gotten a lot of attention in the press and down in Olympia. In the summer of 2008, Jason was working patrol in West Seattle. For those who do not know Jason, he is the kind of officer that you want coming through the door when you call for a backup. He is a big guy and he was a distinguished football player and well versed in wrestling and martial arts. He responded to a fight disturbance. When he got close, he saw one person beating another. He made a split second decision that would forever change his life. He decided that he needed to take immediate action to stop this assault or else the person getting beat may not survive. Alone, Jason swung into action and pulled the aggressor off of the other person. There were other "youths" on the scene and what happened next was totally unexpected. The group turned their aggression on Jason. Shockingly, even the person who Jason saved from a beating turned against him. Jason was somehow knocked to the ground into a roadside ditch. The assailants repeatedly punched, choked and brutally kicked him in the head. One 911 witness said that he thought they were going to kill Jason. The witness said one assailant backed up, got a running start, and kicked Jason directly in the head in the same manner you would see a football player kick a football off of a tee. Eventually, backup units arrived and order was restored. Four juvenile suspects were taken into custody and Jason was taken to the hospital. Sadly, Jason suffered severe brain damage and was never able to return to duty. Being LEOFF II, he went through all the Labor and Industries and Worker's Compensation procedures. He wanted nothing more than to heal and get to return to the profession that he loved. A few weeks ago Jason was declared "totally disabled" by his doctors. The department separated him from service due to his disability.
Being "separated" meant that Jason's family was now on their own for medical coverage. He would be in the position to somehow have to pay for medical coverage while trying to exist on a monthly worker's compensation check that amounts to a little more than half his previously salary. One of the hardest things I've had to hear was when I heard that Jason mentioned that his family would have been better off financially had he not survived on that summer night back in 2008. The family of an officer killed in the line of duty not only receives medical coverage from the state but also insurance payouts from the city, state and the federal governments and that is rightfully the way it should be. Officers are taught to have a "warriors mentality" and to "stay in the fight" and to never give up, but yet when we are catastrophically disabled because we survived, we are then on our own for medical with a reduced salary.
This cannot be the way we treat officers who place themselves in harm's way. SPOG, COMPAS and our new Executive Director, Renee Maher got fired up and began telling Jason's story to legislators in Olympia. One of those legislators was our very own Officer Mike Hope who also saw the incredible injustice in Jason's situation. House Bill catastrophically disabled firefighters, police officers and their families. The money will come from the LEOFFII pension fund, so there will be no impact on the general fund. COMPAS President Sergeant Ty Elster, Assistant Chief Paul McDonagh, and I testified in front of the House Ways and Means Committee in support of the bill. The room was jammed with uniformed officers and firefighters. There were many tears shed when Jason and his wife described how that one night has changed their lives. The bill was unanimously approved by the committee and will now go before the full House of Representatives. If approved, it will then go to the Senate and then on to the Governor. If reading my article gets you upset, I hope you channel that anger into action. The SPOG website has phone numbers for every Senator and Representative in the state. Call each and every one of them. Email them too! Urge them to pass this bill and tell them that you will be watching! We can never standby and let an officer say that his family would have been better off financially if he had not survived. It is time to provide the "backup" for Jason and his family. This means everyone...make the calls! This is a short legislative session, so please do not delay. If you need to get more fired up, the "juvenile thug suspects" got a whopping 30 days in the Youth Center!
Now is the time to call your legislator in support of HB 1679. Yes, it is a LEOFF 2 issue, but it is an important one and needs your support. Your brother and sister officers when disabled under LEOFF 2 are cast out without any health insurance for themselves or their families. And, disabled under LEOFF 2 means totally disabled. No ability to work - just L & I payments for support. It is one of the bad parts of LEOFF 2 and needs to be fixed.
The the full story to see how this failed system works in real life.
The the full story to see how this failed system works in real life.
SPOG President's Message for February 2010
(Editor's Note: This article was extracted from SPOG President Rich O'Neill's February 2010 article in the Guild newsletter, The Guardian.) The terrible ordeal of Seattle Police Officer Jason McKissack has rightfully gotten a lot of attention in the press and down in Olympia. In the summer of 2008, Jason was working patrol in West Seattle. For those who do not know Jason, he is the kind of officer that you want coming through the door when you call for a backup. He is a big guy and he was a distinguished football player and well versed in wrestling and martial arts. He responded to a fight disturbance. When he got close, he saw one person beating another. He made a split second decision that would forever change his life. He decided that he needed to take immediate action to stop this assault or else the person getting beat may not survive. Alone, Jason swung into action and pulled the aggressor off of the other person. There were other "youths" on the scene and what happened next was totally unexpected. The group turned their aggression on Jason. Shockingly, even the person who Jason saved from a beating turned against him. Jason was somehow knocked to the ground into a roadside ditch. The assailants repeatedly punched, choked and brutally kicked him in the head. One 911 witness said that he thought they were going to kill Jason. The witness said one assailant backed up, got a running start, and kicked Jason directly in the head in the same manner you would see a football player kick a football off of a tee. Eventually, backup units arrived and order was restored. Four juvenile suspects were taken into custody and Jason was taken to the hospital. Sadly, Jason suffered severe brain damage and was never able to return to duty. Being LEOFF II, he went through all the Labor and Industries and Worker's Compensation procedures. He wanted nothing more than to heal and get to return to the profession that he loved. A few weeks ago Jason was declared "totally disabled" by his doctors. The department separated him from service due to his disability.
Being "separated" meant that Jason's family was now on their own for medical coverage. He would be in the position to somehow have to pay for medical coverage while trying to exist on a monthly worker's compensation check that amounts to a little more than half his previously salary. One of the hardest things I've had to hear was when I heard that Jason mentioned that his family would have been better off financially had he not survived on that summer night back in 2008. The family of an officer killed in the line of duty not only receives medical coverage from the state but also insurance payouts from the city, state and the federal governments and that is rightfully the way it should be. Officers are taught to have a "warriors mentality" and to "stay in the fight" and to never give up, but yet when we are catastrophically disabled because we survived, we are then on our own for medical with a reduced salary.
This cannot be the way we treat officers who place themselves in harm's way. SPOG, COMPAS and our new Executive Director, Renee Maher got fired up and began telling Jason's story to legislators in Olympia. One of those legislators was our very own Officer Mike Hope who also saw the incredible injustice in Jason's situation. House Bill catastrophically disabled firefighters, police officers and their families. The money will come from the LEOFFII pension fund, so there will be no impact on the general fund. COMPAS President Sergeant Ty Elster, Assistant Chief Paul McDonagh, and I testified in front of the House Ways and Means Committee in support of the bill. The room was jammed with uniformed officers and firefighters. There were many tears shed when Jason and his wife described how that one night has changed their lives. The bill was unanimously approved by the committee and will now go before the full House of Representatives. If approved, it will then go to the Senate and then on to the Governor. If reading my article gets you upset, I hope you channel that anger into action. The SPOG website has phone numbers for every Senator and Representative in the state. Call each and every one of them. Email them too! Urge them to pass this bill and tell them that you will be watching! We can never standby and let an officer say that his family would have been better off financially if he had not survived. It is time to provide the "backup" for Jason and his family. This means everyone...make the calls! This is a short legislative session, so please do not delay. If you need to get more fired up, the "juvenile thug suspects" got a whopping 30 days in the Youth Center!