Benefits uncertain for families of slain NYC volunteer officers
NYS Assoc. of Aux Police
From http://www.amny.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--volunteerpolicebe0322mar22,0,5911184.story?coll=ny-yankees-utility
Benefits uncertain for families of slain NYC volunteer officers
NEW YORK -- When two uniformed but unarmed volunteer police
officers were shot dead last week by a gunman on a rampage, city officials said
their families could receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in survivors'
benefits.
But decisions in such cases are rarely cut and dried, and it
remains unclear whether the officers' volunteer status would prevent their
families from receiving the bulk of the money.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg
has said his administration has identified three compensation sources for the
families of Auxiliary Officers Eugene Marshalik and Nicholas Todd Pekearo. The
largest by far is a federal public safety officers benefit of nearly $300,000,
but both families must still prove to the Department of Justice that the men
qualify for the award.
For Monique Clarke, the daughter of the last New
York City auxiliary officer killed in the line of duty, years of paperwork and
document requests ended in a denial. Federal officials ruled that her father's
death did not qualify for the federal money.
"I fought it all the way up
until 2002," said Clarke, whose father, Milton, was fatally shot in 1993 as he
chased a gunman who had critically wounded a man. "We got nothing."
While much is different in the cases, Clarke's death could provide
insight into the prospects for federal benefits for Marshalik's and Pekearo's
families.
Marshalik and Pekearo were shot in Greenwich Village as they
attempted to follow a gunman who had already killed a restaurant worker nearby.
They have been lauded as heroes for confronting the gunman and pursuing him,
even though they were not required to put themselves at risk.
According
to the denial letter sent to Clarke's relatives, the Department of Justice's
refusal of their claim was based on the New York Police Department's own
Auxiliary Guide, which says auxiliaries "are not peace officers or police
officers and do not possess powers above and beyond those of a private citizen."
That definition made Clarke ineligible for the federal award, the letter
said.
In response to an inquiry about the case, the Bureau of Justice
Assistance _ which evaluates applications for the federal benefits program _
said in a statement Wednesday that the application from Clarke's family was
denied "simply because he was not a public safety officer under New York law."
That reasoning could bode ill for Marshalik's and Pekearo's families,
although the bureau statement said that any determination for them would depend
on their applications, which are still being drawn up. And though the NYPD does
not define auxiliaries as peace officers, police officials "would argue that
they're entitled to the benefit," said Paul Browne, the department's top
spokesman.
State officials
say the language in the NYPD guide may be incorrect.
"Under state law,
they are limited-function peace officers, but they are peace officers," John
Caher, director of public information for the state Division of Criminal Justice
Services, said of auxiliary officers.
Contrary to the guide, auxiliaries
do possess limited powers beyond those of private citizens, Caher said. They are
permitted to perform warrantless arrests, and they are required to complete a
basic peace officer course run by the state, he added.
John
Hyland, the president of the Auxiliary Police Benevolent Association of the City
of New York, argued that the Justice Department should follow state law, rather
than any NYPD documentation, when evaluating benefit applications.
But
Hyland also said documents and legal codes make up only part of what influences
the federal decision in such cases. Applications that don't receive forceful
backing from local authorities are far less likely to succeed, he said.
There seems to be no shortage of official support in the cases of
Marshalik, a 19-year-old college sophomore, and Pekearo, an aspiring writer who
was 28.
Each man's family is being granted a $66,000 city award for
heroism, and Bloomberg's administration has said it will help their families
apply for the $295,194 federal award and a $50,000 state workers compensation
benefit.
"We feel there is a compelling case to be made for Auxiliary
Police Officers Pekearo and Marshalik to receive the (federal) benefit," mayoral
spokesman Jason Post said in a written statement.
Representatives from
the city's Police Pension Fund have already been in touch with the Department of
Justice about the two deaths, he said.
The details of Clarke's story _
he was out of uniform and hours away from his auxiliary shift when he ran after
the gunman near his Bronx auto shop _ likely hurt his family's case, Hyland
said.
Those details matter little to Clarke's daughter, wife and sons.
City officials declared his death a line-of-duty loss and affixed his name to
the memorial at police headquarters.
"My father was the main provider,"
said Monique Clarke, now a real estate agent in Yonkers. "I was 17 years old,
and I had to go to work. I didn't have the choice of going to college."