The law enforcement officer then checks with the workers’
compensation carrier. He realizes for the first time that the
workers’ compensation carrier had not opened a second claim
file but merely processed all of his new medical bills under the
previous claim because it involved the same right leg. Strike
three.
What should have been a simple application for an accidental
disability retirement pension morphed into a complex and ex-
pensive administrative law hearing where the law enforcement
officer had to cobble together bits and pieces of less-than-ideal
information to show that he was working on the night in ques-
tion, did respond to a call in a sister jurisdiction and was injured
while on that call.
Had he known on the night of the injury or in the days fol-
lowing the injury that his injury would ever be questioned 18
months later, he could have (and hopefully, would have) done
things much differently, including but not limited to:
a. Authoring a supplemental report about his involvement
on the night in question;
b. Authoring a report up the chain of command as to his
injury;
c. Preserving the photographs he took of the injury;
d. Preserving the text message he sent reporting his injury;
e. Immediately going to the emergency room or having
paramedics respond to the scene;
f. Verifying and insisting that the workers’ compensation
carrier assign a second workers’ compensation claim
number and open a second workers’ compensation file
for the second incident;
g.
Consulting a workers’ compensation attorney to file two
claim petitions or at least document that there were two
separate and distinct incidents;
h. Retrieving copies of the audio of the dispatch earlier;
i. Asking his Department to download and preserve GPS
from his vehicle (if equipped) to verify his location on the
night in question;
j. Asking his Department to download and preserve video
coverage from cameras within his vehicle (if applicable);
k. Asking his Department to download and preserve body
camera coverage (if applicable);
l. Taking photographs (during the day and at night) of the
area in question where the injury took place; and
m. Preserving the boots he was wearing when the injury
took place.
Documentation is not important unless and until you need it.
However, if you ever need documentation, it is better to already
have it than to find out that it no longer exists or have to piece it
together in a less-than-ideal manner.
A former municipal police officer, county corrections officer and
municipal prosecutor, Stuart J. Alterman has represented law
enforcement officers for more than 25 years in all areas of em-
ployment issues. He is an NJ State PBA Lifetime Silver Card re-
cipient. Arthur J. Murray, who has extensive practice in the Office
of Administrative Law in Law Enforcement Disciplinary Matters,
contributed to this report.
The Law Firm of
Alterman & Associates, LLC
Stuart J. Alterman, Esquire
Arthur J. Murray, Esquire
Timothy J. Prol, Esquire
Proudly representing Law Enforcement and Public Safety for a combined 80 years
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One Stop Shop for Public Safety
Alterman & Associates, LLC have been an approved law firm with the PBA Legal Protection Plan since its inception.
South Jersey Location
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8 South Maple Avenue, Marlton, NJ 08053
22 Church Street, Haledon, NJ 07508
(856) 334-5737
(973) 956-1621
[email protected]
www.altermanandassociates.com
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