A New York City review has found that the NYPD’s disability pension system is vulnerable to fraud, even as it awards annual benefits of as much as $350,000—an arrangement reminiscent of the infamous jet-skiing cop scandal.
The Department of Investigation said the process for obtaining a city medical parking permit is more demanding than the NYPD pension system’s standards for determining whether an applicant is disabled.
The investigation examined three-quarter disability pensions awarded to police officers. Those benefits are significantly higher than the standard pension for non-disabled retirees, which is generally 50% of a retiree’s final average salary.
“DOI received allegations in 2025 that multiple officers of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”) received accident disability benefits yet were engaged in activities inconsistent with their entitlement to those benefits,” the agency said in its findings.
The report also pointed to unusually generous disability pensions granted to several senior NYPD officials who served in administrative positions during former Mayor Eric Adams’ tenure.
Among those identified was former Chief of Department John Chell, who received a $295,000 annual disability pension after injuring his foot during a 2024 NYPD operation involving migrants on Randall’s Island.
“As this report makes clear, the current manner in which accident disability pension benefits are administered creates risks for improper payments,” DOI Commissioner Nadia Shihata said in the report.
“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,’’ she said.
“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, such as the system for state police.”
Police and firefighter disability pensions have been at the center of several scandals over the years.
One widely publicized case involved retired NYPD Officer Glenn Lieberman, who in 2014 posted a picture of himself riding a Jet Ski and giving the camera the middle finger while collecting a substantial disability pension.
Lieberman ultimately pleaded guilty to grand larceny in connection with the case.
The Post has also reported on disabled first responders who later participated in triathlons and mixed martial arts competitions after retiring on disability benefits.
The Police Pension Fund provides retirement benefits to more than 50,000 former NYPD officers each year. Its total pension payments reached $3.59 billion in fiscal year 2025.
Roughly one-quarter of that amount—$935 million in fiscal year 2025—went to officers receiving accident disability pensions, a benefit reserved for those who retire because of a disabling injury sustained in the line of duty.
More than $100 million of those payments went to officers who applied for and were awarded a disability pension but would not have been eligible for standard retirement because they had not met the minimum age.
The Empire Center for Public Policy reported that the average pension for all newly retired police officers now exceeds $100,000.
The report said the medical rules are loose when it comes to awarding disability pensions.
A three-member medical board — consisting of doctors appointed by the PPF’s Board of Trustees, the city health commissioner and the commissioner of citywide administrative services — evaluates and determines who is disabled.
But DOI found that the PPF’s medical board assesses disability applications without regard to an officer’s actual job duties.
All officers are assessed on the same standards. with “even senior officers who have held desk jobs for years” reviewed to determine whether they can apprehend dangerous suspects.
“The Medical Board’s assessments stand in stark contrast to those conducted in the system for state police officers, who are assessed for accident disability based on their actual job duties, despite both systems operating under virtually identical legal frameworks,” the report said.
The report also said the pension board and its medical experts almost never use their authority to re-examine disability retirees to determine whether they remain disabled.
It’s one-and-done.
The report also said there’s a perception that high ranking officers can obtain a disability pension more easliy than lower-ranked cops.
“The PPF has received backlash due to a reported perception that senior leaders, like John Chell and former Deputy Commissioner for Community Affairs Mark Stewart, can obtain accident disability benefits more easily than the rank-and-file.40,” the report said.
“John Chell retired as the top-ranking uniformed member of the NYPD. Like Chell, Stewart’s responsibilities at the NYPD as a Deputy Commissioner varied dramatically from the essential functions of a police officer. NYPD documents describing Stewart’s role show that his position was largely managerial, overseeing several NYPD initiatives and representing the Police.”
Former NYPD Chief of Training Juanita Holmes received a $350,000-a-year annual disability pension after nearly four decades of NYPD service, though DOI questioned the payout. It was not immediately clear why she landed disability.
DOI issued five recommendations: that the PPF should adopt new rules to evaluate disability pension applications based on an officer’s actual job duties; approve clear rules for medical re-examinations and require that retirees periodically prove their disability still exists; accept information from the public about potential disability scams, and vote on whether four officers highlighted in the report should undergo a medical re-examination.
The PPF told DOI it accepted the final two recommendations — accepting public information and re-examining the officers in question —but rejected the first three.
The NYPD referred questions to the PPF, which had no comment. The police commissioner has a representative on the board.
The office of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who also has a rep on the PPF board, declined comment.
The city Police Benovolent Association union, which has four reps on the 12-member PPF board, declined comment.
