Five Los Angeles city council members have called for investigation and reform of a program that pays aging cops and firefighters almost double at the end of their careers while allowing them to take lengthy injury leaves, costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.
The council members are responding to a Los Angeles Times investigation published Sunday, which showed that nearly half of the participants in the city’s Deferred Retirement Option Plan— better known as DROP— had taken such leaves in the last decade, for injuries ranging from cumulative ailments like carpal tunnel syndrome and high blood pressure, to a fall from a defective office chair.
In a motion filed Wednesday, Councilmember Mitchell Englander referred to The Times’ investigation, which he said presented “several egregious examples of abuse, and likely fraud.”
The motion, seconded by four of Englander’s colleagues, called it “critical that [the] City investigate these allegations and take steps to prevent abuses in order to protect both tax payer funds and the integrity of the program.”
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