Shop

For a year, The Inquirer investigated police abuse of Pennsylvania’s generous Heart and Lung disability benefit. At a time when Philadelphia endured record levels of gun violence, the newspaper revealed a little-discussed factor contributed to this public safety challenge: A huge number of police officers were deemed by the union-selected doctors as unavailable to work, one in seven patrol officers, a rate vastly greater than the percentage in other major cities. Philadelphia police commanders complained they were hindered by an officer shortage even before the pandemic and 2020’s social unrest. Still, the ranks of those determined to be disabled more than doubled since 2017. Some officers who were supposedly too hurt to do police work held down second jobs, in violation of a police directive, or engaged in strenuous activities, such as running a roofing company or competing in a traveling softball league. Since these officers are not subject by state law to state or federal income taxes on their police disability pay, they essentially receive a 20% raise to not work. During the 2021 fiscal year, the city spent $24 million on salaries for police officers who are considered too hurt to work, up from $6.7 million in 2008.

2022 IRE Award Winner, Print/Online (written word) > Division 3