By MES Dispatch Staff
The Briefing
- The New York City Department of Investigation released a report Tuesday finding the NYPD’s accident disability pension system lacks adequate safeguards against improper payments.
- The Police Pension Fund paid $3.6 billion to more than 50,000 retired officers in fiscal year 2025, including $935 million in accident disability pensions.
- DOI said the fund has required only one periodic medical re-examination of pension recipients since 2019, despite having the authority to do so.
- The report names former NYPD Chief of Department John Chell, who retired with an annual pension of $295,919.64, criticizing the fund’s process for evaluating his case rather than his underlying injury.
- DOI is recommending new medical exams for four unnamed officers flagged through anonymous tips, which could result in reduced or revoked pension benefits.
NEW YORK — New York City’s Department of Investigation said in a report released Tuesday that the fund overseeing NYPD officers’ accident disability pensions needs stronger safeguards to prevent improper payments, following anonymous tips about recipients who appeared to be in good physical health.
“The current manner in which accident disability pension benefits are administered creates risks for improper payments,” DOI Commissioner Nadia Shihata said. “No 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. But the Police Pension Fund’s current administration of these benefits is vulnerable to misuse and does not employ standards consistent with those used in similar law enforcement retirement systems.”
The Police Pension Fund, which did not respond to a request for comment, paid more than $3.6 billion to over 50,000 retired officers in fiscal year 2025, with $935 million of that total going toward accident disability pensions, according to DOI. The 19-page report found that although the fund has the authority to require periodic medical re-examinations of pension recipients, it has done so only once since 2019 — a practice DOI said falls short of standards used by comparable agencies, including the State Police.
The report examines the case of former NYPD Chief of Department John Chell, who retired at the end of 2025 with an annual pension of $295,919.64 tied to a knee injury sustained during a migrant enforcement operation on Randall’s Island. DOI does not dispute the injury itself but criticizes the Board of Trustees’ process for evaluating Chell’s job responsibilities, noting one board member said he had to research the Chief of Department’s duties online. The report recommends the fund assess applicants based on their specific job duties, as the State Police do, rather than applying a uniform standard across ranks. Chell, who has said he plans to run for mayor, did not respond to a request for comment; at the time of his retirement, he told the New York Daily News, “The system is the system. I didn’t make up the system.”
The report also references former Chief of Training Juanita Holmes, who received a pension worth more than $350,000 annually, and former Deputy Commissioner of Community Affairs Mark Stewart, both cited in earlier media reports on NYPD executives’ pension applications. Additionally, DOI reviewed the cases of four unnamed officers flagged through anonymous tips, including allegations involving weightlifting, contact sports, dance routines and heavy-equipment operation. DOI is recommending those four officers undergo new medical examinations to determine whether they can return to city payroll, a step that could result in reduced or revoked pension benefits.