Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety Benefits topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Representative urges including university police in accidental‑heart presumptions after Bridgewater officer's death
Summary
Representative Dennis Gallagher pressed the committee to consider legislation extending accidental disability and death presumptions (heart law) to university police officers, citing the case of a Bridgewater State University officer who died of a heart attack and whose widow was denied benefits under Chapter 32, section 94.
Representative Dennis Gallagher asked the Joint Committee on Public Service to revisit whether university police officers should receive the same accidental disability and death benefit presumptions as municipal police officers under state retirement law.
Gallagher described a Bridgewater State University police officer who died of a heart attack in 2004 and said the widow’s claim for death benefits under Chapter 32, section 94, was denied because that section, he said, “does not include university police departments.” Gallagher recounted appeals to the State Board of Retirement and subsequent administrative reviews that he said were denied.
“This bill is specific for an individual, as you're aware of, but there's also another element to take a look at the policy that is established,” Gallagher told the committee. He urged the panel to consider updating Chapter 32 to ensure university police have the same rights relative to the heart law as municipal police, saying recent events on university campuses make the policy question timely.
Gallagher said the matter has a long history in the Legislature and noted a memorial dedication at Bridgewater State recognizing the late officer. He asked the committee to continue the discussion and move the bill further this session. The hearing record shows no committee action or vote on the bill during the session.
Ending: Gallagher requested further consideration of the bill to align treatment of university police with municipal police under Chapter 32; no formal committee vote was recorded during the hearing.
