Grand Jury Investigating Disability Payments To Chicago Police

By Chuck Sudo in News on Oct 4, 2012 3:00PM

Remember that investigative series the Sun-Times ran in July on seemingly healthy Chicago police officers and firefighters who were collecting disability pay, in some cases for over 20 years? Well, that series gained the attention of a federal grand jury.

The Policemen’s Annuity & Benefit Fund of Chicago was served a subpoena Wednesday by the grand jury, demanding nearly every record they have related to police receiving disability payments dating back to January 2006. The Sun-Times writes the grand jury is seeking:

• Injury reports with the officers’ names, a description of their injuries and the names of the doctors who treated them.
• Doctors’ reports, including any treatment prescribed.
• “All reports prepared by claims investigators, underwriters and adjusters, and any other parties employed or retained to process, investigate, subrogate, monitor and adjudicate duty-disability claims.”
• Records regarding each officer’s “return-to-work status.”
• Records of any officers who asked for and were “refused accommodation to return to restricted work by city of Chicago departments.”

The Policemen's Annuity & Benefit Fund has until Oct. 23 to turn over the records.

The Sun-Times discovered 347 police officers were receiving tax-free disability duty payments, at a cost of $18 million a year. The series introduced readers to Charles T. Siedlecki, who had been collecting disability payments for nearly 20 years after he was injured chasing some teens in Beverly. Siedlecki went on to become a lawyer, help run his family’s mortuary business and become a big game hunting enthusiast—the Sun-Times even had pictures of Siedlecki on safari—despite claims from a doctor that he can’t hold a firearm. Siedlecki told the Sun-Times he planned to keep collecting disability payments until he turned 63, at which point he would qualify for a pension based on his disability pay.

The Chicago Police Pension Board asked the Cook County State’s Attorney's office to investigate the payments to Siedlecki before suspending the payments in August.

It’s unknown if the grand jury is also investigating the firefighters pensions. 390 firefighters are collecting disability payments to the tune of $27 million annually.