$1 Billion DROP Salary Scandal: L.A. Cops, Firefighters Allowed to Double-Dip Into City Funds, Collect Pensions 5 Years Early (VIDEO)

Cops a no heroes. Stop using the word hero so regularly.

Check with L.A.D.W.P. they have picked.up several D.R.O.P. COPS! To run security. While at. The same time. Collecting large L.A.P.D. Brass. Retirement salaries......

Mabye. It takes one. Security. Director. To. Run and. Manage. Some security. Depts. but. Good ol L.A.D.W.P. needs three retired L.A.P.D. cops. Former captains. Lieutenants and sgts. To come. Muck up yhe security. Section of water and power with some old fashioned. L.A.P.D. rampart style management...

D.R.O.P! Ha ha ha ha. Drop the L.A.P.D. management style...The citizens of L.A. dont need three retired cops to get double dipped fat paychecks and retirement checks to take care.of D.W.P. facilities... As a matter of fact.. since they have come over to D.W.P. security.has been cut back. To a detrimental unsafe. status. But. Those huge security ditector/ L.A.P.D. btass paychecks keep on rollin in.

D.R.O.P.??!?!??!?? Drop the. Corruption!!! Thats what needs to be dropped... The citizens deserve better

This is a great way to support the firemen and police officers who put their lives on the line. Finally some justice for those who do the jobs others are afraid to do or to bent on drugs to figure out how to. Kudos to the fire and police departments for finally getting your dues, LA has some mean streets and im sure noone would want to work in compton at night like these guys do, anyone of them can get shot and killed for the city of la they work in. So good job LA for conpensating them well for all the crap they put up with, these people on here included who are just jealous because their jobs dont compare to the on the line jobs all you guys do every day, thanks very much police and fire depts of LA!

My retirement plan is 0% funded. Mind you, I do pretty well financially, but still, that's a heck of a difference. THis is just wrong.

Unfortunately, those defending the DROP program as “Fiscally neutral” aren’t telling the whole story. DROP has been judged as cost neutral to the Police and Fire PENSIONs Systemt, not to the city budget as a whole. In other words, those DROP payments are coming from the general fund, I believe, not pensions costs.

And, as far as the 9% pension contribution, to put it in simple language, if the city just matched the 9% annual contribution, it would take 33 consecutive years of plus 15% annual returns for the current pensions to be funded. So, this nonsense that the LAPD/FD officers really pay the majority costs of their pension is just nonsense and an attempt to mislead. It's like a household where the mortgage is paid and none of the other bills are. And that is the same household that insists that they are fiscally very responsible because they pay their mortgage on time. Yes, the mortgage is probably the important expense, but just paying the mortagge even on a the best home while being delinquent on everything else makes that home a pretty unattractive place to live.

ALL The LAPD and LAFD defenders, who incidentially are the beneficaries of this DROP program, are very facile in calling Weekly biased, yet, can't point to specifically what the Weekly got wrong. My very favorite is when Weekly is accused of being a stalking horse for the mayor. Clearly, it would help to give credence to these talking points if the writer was actually familiar with the publication he/she is criticizing.

At a time when libraries are having to close 2 days a week, for public safety officers to insist upon an additional $300,000 cash bonus on average on TOP of 6 figure annual lifetime pensions and cadillac health care benefits is simply obscene. I wonder when does the public part of public employee begin to mean something to these particular city employees?

When I first heard of DROP, it was described as an incentive for higher-ups to finally retire and open up promotional positions. That was the only way it could even begin to make sense to me. Did they ever get "bounce" approved for more years of double dipping??

You conveniently neglect to mention that the city more than matches the contribution. I pay into my own retirement as well - it's called a 401k - but I don't get matching funding, so I don't know what you're talking about.

This is what Politicians want, for all of you to be arguing about the Budgets of the LAFD and LAPD, when it's their own budgets that are not justifiable. Just look at how much the Mayor himself has expanded his Budget.

This article is biased at best, misleading and or downright wrong at worst. LA Weekly, I hope you print a retraction to the false information you printed.

The lie is the problem. The lie that fire fighters and police officers are "blue collar public servants".

If we believe that they should earn more than highly educated executives who work a hundred hours a week and retire at 55 as millionaires we should make sure everyone knows about the opportunity. I wish I knew 25 years ago that the CHP would have me retiring and rich in a few years.

That way every cop will be a former special forces guy with a graduate degree from an Ivy League school.

It is the sneaking around making back alley deals that is the problem. We can't afford $200,000 cops and $350,000 a year fire chiefs.

Wow, this article is on the level of the Jerry Springer show and TMZ. It is a prime example of irresponsible and unprofessional media. Sensationalism, all in the name of making the author and LA Weekly money. I invite everyone to stop and think for a moment and then get all the facts. Some of the facts are that DROP is designed to be cost neutral and can be cancelled or revised if it is shown that DROP is not cost effective to the citizens of Los Angeles. It is a fact that the city has actually profited from the DROP program since inception. In fact Governor Schwarzenegger endorsed this type of program state wide as a means to cut costs and retain experienced people. It is also a fact that unethical, and cowardly politicians such as Villarogosa, use inept, naive and bush league reporters and publications to spread their lies and political agendas. This is an attempt to vilify Fire and Police in order to turn the weak minded, emotionally unstable and easily swayed individuals against the Firefighters and Police officers. I urge all of you to dig deeper into this subject. You will see that this reporter and the LA Weekly are not trustworthy. This article is pure trash!

I like one sided, distorted and self serving reporting as much as the next guy, but the truth of the matter is that DROP benefits the City too. The pension money that funds DROP comes from (for the LAFD anyway) from the 9% contribution of each member from their base salary. The fund is totally supported by membership contributions and the City "contribution" is a contract benefit negotiated in liew of a paycheck increase. The current City contribution reflects a court ordered for reimbursement for the five years of benefits that the City chose not to pay their contracted obligation. While the member continues to work while enrolled in the DROP the City has access to these funds for investment. So as you can see, the "double dipping" is a member being paid from a fund that consists of their own money. A projected benefit is going to be retirees dying earlier because retirements have been increased form 25 to 33 years of service on the average.

I didn't want to be 80 anyway.

"As for pensions, if they changed the pension system to a 401(k)-type plan, the PD/FD employees would actually make more money on retirement. The rate of return for employees 9% contribution over 33 years is very low."

YES! YES! Yes! PLEASE change the retirement for LAPD and FD to 401K program so that our valued Police & fire department officers can make more money. Bulldog's comment hopes like hell that nobody reading this will run the numbers to see precisely what the LAPd/LAFD pensions costs.

So, here ARE the numbers. This is based on the lowest salary of $45,000 that a new LAPD recruit would earn. Lets say that this new recruit works for LAPD for 33 years and retires. Lets assume that between raises and cost of living increases, that his salary raises 3% a year. That is a VERY low figure as it assumes no promotions, etc. After 33 years, his final salary would be approximately $122,938.

Under the pension program now in effect, (just salary, not unused vacations, sick days, etc.), his annual pension would be $110,644. For that annual pension to generate that $110,000 income, he would need a nest egg of $1,683,160. He has put aside 9% of his annual income or $241,000 to get this income.

And, the city promises him in return the equivalent of that nest egg of $1,683,000 with NO investment risk and built in cost of living increases PLUS survivor benefits.

By way of comparison and since LAPD/ does not contribute to social security, these officers do not contribute the 6.2% of annual income that the rest of us do. Under the maximum contribution/maximum benefit, a citizen will contribute $166,000 over that same period, while only a guarantee of an annual income of $28,000.

Anybody who would call this a low rate of return either doesn't know what they are talking about or is attempting to mislead.

There is NOBODY who coukld call theis a low rate of return for the ofwould call knows anything about fOn the basis of the officer's contribution, the investment would have to have a 16% annual return for 33 consecutive years to fund that retirement. The chances of that occurring? ZERO.

No wonder City of LA is more bankrupt and cannot get out of this deep hole unless declaring bankruptcy. We understand the danger that these firefighters and policemen encounter in their day to day operations but to allow them to ‘double dip’ is outrageous especially in these present economic times. Attention state workers union how about copying this DROP program? The budget deficit problem both local and statewide will never end……

The City designed the DROP program, not the Unions. Do you think they would offer if it lost money? It was designed to both save the City money and retain employees longer to defer costs. It does both. As for pensions, if they changed the pension system to a 401(k)-type plan, the PD/FD employees would actually make more money on retirement. The rate of return for employees 9% contribution over 33 years is very low. The City uses that money for a long time. Only the last couple of years has the fund not been 100% fully-funded, requiring the City to contribute. It was fully-funded for many years. How does it get fully-funded? By employees putting in far more than they take out. The article writer needs to gather the true facts and interview the people who run the DROP and pension programs. For those of you with a 401(k)/retirement plan, how would you like to contribute for 33 years, only to have someone change the rules right before you retire?

Just because you don't like the idea of Police and Firefighters having the DROP option, you should at least print the truth about how the system works. Here are your wrong facts:1. The city spent $900,000,000 on the program. False. The City stops contributing to Police and Firefighters pensions once they enter the DROP, saving the City five years of pension contributions for each member in the DROP. Big plus for the City2. Jones and the City continue to pay into his retirement fund. Wrong. As stated above, once a member enters the DROP, the member keeps paying but the City stops contributing.3. " tree map" of L. A. City budget singles out the City pension and DROP payouts. Wrong The Police and Firefighters Pension Fund is a private fund. Not one drop of a Police or Firefighters pension or DROP payout comes from the City budget after they retire. No matter how long they live or how much they collect. The City never pays a cent for their pension after retirement. Another overlooked fact is the savings to the City not to have to pay to hire a new employee to replace the one that would normally retire earlier. This includes training, promotional exam expenses and new pension payments that would not be made if a person was in the DROP. So yes, it does seem like a lot of money but at least you should point out the reason for the DROP, mainly the monetary savings to the City and not try to paint the recipients in such a bad light

And you wonder why the city has no money. I understand that Beck has several parking spaces for his "dignitaries" that never get used. Instead, you have civilian police workers parking in and around dangerous places. The police and fire department are a big scam. I lost respect for cops a long time ago when they used to harrass me simply for walking around in south central where I grew up.

BANKRUPTCY; The Only Way Out !!! LA will be a Ghost Town in 10 Years !!!

Did LAPD, in its glory days have these gold-plated deals? No.

Did the LAFD, when we still had regular fires and not endless false alarms have them? No.

Do we need them now to maintain "public safety"? No.

Are we being ripped off by yet another group of public employees? Yes.

To serve and protect themselves. Firecrooks and Copcrooks. If they were evaluated on the actual performance (ie. cases solved) they be would paid minimum wage. I have worked around law enforcement, by far the laziest group of people I have ever met. Danger- doesn't even make the top ten, fishing and ranching is a much more dangerous job. This is all corruption, no one ever voted on these benefits. Cut anyone under 65 off immediately and send them back to work, even if that means doing the desk work that we are paying someone else for. Wake up people.

Public Safety, the only sure way to retire a multi millionaire in California.

This is scam, since when did public service entitle people to millions of tax dollars. Please do not use the broad brush of hero on all these people. A hero is someone who goes above and beyond the call of duty. A hero is a citizen who helps another without compensation. These people are crooks. They and their unions are robbing the rest of us.

We need to shut down the "public safety" pension scams Kel and all his GED buddies are defrauding everyone with.

Hahahhaah...Kel,m PD and FD jobs are GEDE jobs that are comping $200K per year, their salary has DOUBLED in the last 10 years, you never gave up any "moeny" fopr dDROP or anything else.

DROP is, alwasy has been and awaylys will be a SCAM.

BTW-LAPD/FD has THOUSANDS of applicants for every ONE opening, it's not as if a dork with a GED can get hired into a $200K job anywhere but gov .

You GED clowns are pathetic

Let's talk about all the years the city didn't put what they were suppose to put into the police and fire pensions. In the years the police and fire pensions were making money, the elected officials took the extra money made from the pension accounts and funneled the money into other programs, instead of leaving the money in the pension to grow. So let's all grab our pitch forks and go out on that witch hunt. Everyone has a choice in their professions and the people who protect us take less money for benefits. This article is completely one sided and biased and another attempt to kill the working middle class.

LAPD & LAFD is a road to riches in LA. Their budgets need to be cut by 20% immediately. Will resolve the budget crisis. The response will be the usual that if cut, crime will increase and people will start dying of heart attacks. Someone needs to look realistically at these departments and put an end to their propaganda of playing on people's fears.

THE LAFPP (Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension) system is 91.6% funded for pension benefits on an actuarial basis for the period ending June 30, 2010. It is among the highest-funded systems in the state and the best funded of the City’s three retirement systems. It is also one of the few pension plans that pre-fund health benefits. ALSO - Fire Fighters and Police Officers pay 9% of their own pay into the retirement. I don't know who else can make that claim!! ALSO - due to the fact that LAPD recruitment has dropped off in the last 10 years, the fact that you can't find a lot of people willing to do such a thankless job, and faced with loosing TRAINED Officers and Firefighters, DROP was created to help fill the huge void that would have been left upon the retirement of the senior Fire fighters and Police Officers. DROP allows the CITY to keep trained, professional, seasoned, Officers and Firefighters, for an extra five years, in a time when it its too expensive to hire new recruits and pay for their training.