CONCORD, N.H. — Mario Oliveira, co-founder of the Violently Injured Police Officers Organization (V.I.P.O.), testified last week before a committee of the New Hampshire House of Representatives in support of V.I.P.O.’s model bill to increase benefits for first responders who are seriously injured but not killed in the line of duty.
Oliveira, a Somerville Police Detective who was forced to retire after being shot six times in the line of duty, testified in support of SB134 in front of the Executive Departments and Administration Committee. The Committee then voted 16-0 to forward the bill to the full House of Representatives and recommended it be passed.
The bill will first be heard by the Finance Committee and then will be voted on by the entire House. The bill has passed the New Hampshire Senate.
“The committee voted unanimously to forward the bill after hearing my testimony and agreeing that it’s wrong for police officers to be financially punished for surviving serious injuries,” Oliveira said. “I look forward to seeing the full House vote on this bill in the hope that it will soon become law in the Granite State.”
Co-founded by Oliveira and Woburn Police Officer Bob DeNapoli, both of whom were forced to retire after being seriously injured in violent incidents, V.I.P.O. is committed to helping to ensure that violently injured police officers across the country receive adequate compensation and support.
Currently, officers who are forced to retire due to serious injuries receive only a portion of their regular pay and are often prohibited from earning extra income to make ends meet. Death benefits for police officers are typically much more substantial, creating a disincentive for officers to survive if seriously injured.
“If you die in the line of duty, your family gets a one-time payout from the federal government, tax-free, along with state benefits, but if you’re severely injured and survive you get a little more than half of your previous paycheck and you’re sent home,” Oliveira said. “You’re essentially punished for surviving. You’re worth more dead than alive, and that is wrong.”
V.I.P.O. has created model legislation for states that would ensure officers who are permanently disabled as a result of violent assaults are able to receive 100 percent of their pay until they reach retirement age, as well as continued coverage from the health insurance they received as officers. The model bills also seek to remove limits on how much income permanently disabled officers are able to receive from other jobs they are still able to perform.
The legislation was first filed in Massachusetts in 2014, but it has died after being assigned to committees each year.
“This bill proposes to address a glaring deficiency and inequity in current New Hampshire law involving instances where someone intentionally and criminally attacks public safety personnel with a deadly weapon,” said state Rep. Peter Schmidt. “If an officer is killed in such an instance, the state of New Hampshire presently provides a death benefit of $100,000 to the family. Conversely, if the officer miraculously survives, but is left with a permanent total disability, the result can be a financial disaster for the officer, as well as the family, on top of the emotional and physical trauma inflicted by the criminal attack. This manifest injustice is presently disregarded by our system in New Hampshire, unlike military service members who have gone into harm’s way and been disabled. SB134 provides an equitable ongoing compensation, plus insurance coverage under the New Hampshire retirement system, with a view to make our public safety personnel whole who have suffered grievous bodily harm, intentionally inflicted, in public service.”
To learn more about the Violently Injured Police Officers Organization, visit: https://vipo911.org/.
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