{"id":348412,"date":"2026-09-16T15:56:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T15:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/348412\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T15:56:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T15:56:10","slug":"new-york-city-report-says-nypd-accident-disability-pension-system-needs-stronger-oversight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/348412\/","title":{"rendered":"New York City Report Says NYPD Accident Disability Pension System Needs Stronger Oversight"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0fund<\/a> that determines if NYPD officers get largely tax-free accident disability pensions needs better regulations to make sure the system doesn\u2019t get scammed, the city\u2019s Department of Investigation<\/a> said in a report released Tuesday.<\/p>\n

DOI Commissioner Nadia Shihata said the 19-page report \u201cmakes clear, the current manner in which accident disability pension benefits are administered creates risks for improper payments.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo New Yorker wants to stand in the way of NYPD officers rightfully receiving accident benefits when they suffer injuries on the job and are unable to work,\u201d she added. \u201cBut the Police Pension Fund\u2019s current administration of these benefits is vulnerable to misuse and does not employ standards consistent with those used in similar law enforcement retirement systems.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fund, which did not respond to a request for comment, makes retirement payments to over 50,000 retired NYPD officers annually that totaled $3.6 billion in fiscal year 2025, according to DOI. About a quarter of those payments, $935 million, were for accident disability pensions.<\/p>\n

DOI officials said their report was sparked by anonymous tips about cops granted the pricey pensions yet seemingly in great health.<\/p>\n

The report noted that while the fund has had the power to require periodic medical re-examinations of those who get accident disability pensions it has done so only once since 2019.<\/p>\n

That should change, the report said, so that the fund is in line with other agencies that routinely require those with pensions to see a doctor.<\/p>\n

The report also noted that as Mayor Eric Adams\u2019 administration wound down there were media accounts of several NYPD executives applying for and receiving<\/a> accident disability pensions.<\/p>\n

Former NYPD Chief of Department John Chell, who retired<\/a> at the end of 2025 with an annual pension of $295,919.64, is mentioned prominently in the report.<\/p>\n

The agency does not question Chell\u2019s injury, which involved wrenching his knee in a hole in the ground on Randall\u2019s Island during a migrant enforcement operation.<\/p>\n

But it criticized the fund for assessing each officer equally, rather than follow the practice of the State Police, whose applicants for such pensions are evaluated based on their job duties.<\/p>\n

Veterans assigned to an administrative job for years, the report said, have different responsibilities and may be more capable of performing their duties even if injured than a young patrol officer.<\/p>\n

But in Chell\u2019s case, the report said, the fund couldn\u2019t agree on his role.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Board of Trustees appeared ill-equipped to assess Chell\u2019s actual job duties,\u201d the report says, \u201cwith one member admitting that in assessing Chell\u2019s application he had to resort to information he found online describing the Chief of Department\u2019s position.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chell, who recently announced on social media that he plants to run for mayor, did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

At the time he retired, however, he succintly summed up his response to questions about his pension.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe system is the system,\u201d he told the Daily News. \u201cI didn\u2019t make up the system.\u201d<\/p>\n

The quote now appears atop page three of the DOI report, before the introduction and summary.<\/p>\n

Mentioned along with Chell are former Chief of Training Juanita Holmes, who got a pension worth more than $350,000 annually, and former Deputy Commissioner of Community Affairs Mark Stewart.<\/a><\/p>\n

The report mentions four other cops, without their names, all four whose records were reviewed based on tips to DOI.<\/p>\n

One tipster provided video of an officer bench pressing heavy weights and, in photos, playing a contact sport \u2014 all after getting an accident disability pension.<\/p>\n

Another officer, the report said, can be seen working out in videos posted on Instagram while other videos found by DOI show the officer performing \u201ccomplicated dance routines\u201d and doing pushups \u201cwith little apparent effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

A third officer was described to DOI as attending workout classes and \u201clifting large animals\u201d while a fourth officer was accused of traveling frequently and opearting heavy equipment. DOI said it found mixed evidence for the fourth officer \u2014 social media posts that indicate time spent at the guym as well as pictures that show the officer wearing a medial device consistent with his disability.<\/p>\n

DOI now recommends the four officers undergo a new medical exam to determine if they can return to the city payroll in some capacity rather than continue to qualify for the pensions.<\/p>\n

If so, their pensions benefits could be reduced or even revoked.<\/p>\n

__________________<\/p>\n

\u00a92026 New York Daily News.<\/p>\n

Visit\u00a0nydailynews.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Distributed by\u00a0Tribune Content Agency, LLC.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The\u00a0fund that determines if NYPD officers get largely tax-free accident disability pensions needs better regulations to make sure…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":348413,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,24,55,54,56],"class_list":["post-348412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=348412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348412\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/348413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}