Disabled MPD Officers Entitled to Full Back Pay
Statement by Milwaukee Police Association President Andrew Wagner
The Milwaukee Police Association is pleased and gratified with today’s court decision that paces the way for injured police officers to receive the full amount of retroactive benefits they are owed by the City of Milwaukee.
This decision puts an end to Attorney Christopher MacGillis‘ audacious request for $1.2 million in attorney’s fees he wanted taken directly from the back pay owed to the injured officers. No one should profit on the backs of injured police officers.We commend the city’s voluntary change in practice and calculation of former MPA members and current DDR (Duty Disability Retirement) beneficiaries. When the city was prepared to pay $3.6 million in additional benefits to the disabled police officers last summer, we were outrage when Attorney MacGillis filed a motion to stop the payments.
Not only did these disabled officers risk losing 1/3 of benefits that they are entitled to, but they also have not received these retroactive benefits yet, even though the city was prepared to pay them last summer. We expect the city will now move expeditiously to pay these officers.
Our members risk their lives for this community every day – and many have paid for it with a myriad of health issues that forced them into an early retirement. Our injured officers deserve better.
Andrew Wagner
President
Milwaukee Police Association
Local #21, IUPA
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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Feb 7th, 2023 by Milwaukee Police AssociationToday the Milwaukee Police Department suffered the tragic loss of one of our officers. This loss of life was avoidable and only occurred because of the actions of one truly evil individual. This individual chose to fire several rounds at officers with complete disregard for their lives. He did not care about the consequences of his actions, including the immeasurable harm his actions would do to the officer’s family, colleagues, and friends. Not to mention the community as a whole. He chose to disregard the sanctity of human life, all in a vain, self-serving attempt to evade lawful arrest. As we now know, his choice directly caused his death, which is tragic but was 100% his own fault and avoidable. Because of his selfish and needless actions, a father and mother will be burying their son, fellow officers will miss the laughter and joy the fallen officer brought to them, and the community suffers through another senseless loss of a dedicated public servant who wanted nothing more, from a young age, to do this job and help people. Left in the wake of this tragedy are countless more, to include his partner that day, who is now left with indescribable grief and guilt wondering if there was anything they could have done differently to save his life, even though we know there was not. The actions of one individual have now caused unimaginable pain to so many. As we go through the next couple of weeks, we ask for your thoughts and prayers for the family, colleagues, and friends of our officers. We will look forward to celebrating the life of our fallen officer, making sure people know the story of his courageous and selfless act, and how he lived these acts out every day, not just on his last. We will ensure that the sacrifice that our officer made in so many people’s lives is never forgotten. Never.
