Readers React: L.A. should get a grip on injury leave pay

To the editor: Your article underscores the importance of investigative journalism. It provides example after example of potential injury leave abuses by police and fire department employees that are costing the public enormous sums while allowing the alleged abusers to spend up to two years on leaves collecting their pay tax free. (“L.A. pays millions as police and firefighter injury claims rise,” Sept. 28)

It’s especially galling to find public-safety workers taking advantage of such dubious injury claims. Their actions harm the reputation of police and fire service providers.

The Times shined the light on the corrupt Bell city manager, members of the City Council and others who enriched themselves at the expense of the predominantly poor residents they served. As troubling as the Bell abuses were, injury claims of the like described in this article may be even more damaging.

Paul Relis, Santa Barbara

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To the editor: This is what newspaper reporting should do: expose uncomfortable truths. This investigation provides precisely the kind of information taxpayers are entitled to.

To say the article was disheartening and infuriating is an understatement. Doesn’t any civil servant feel fortunate to have his or her job and not feel the need to “work the system”?

Why is there lax oversight for a bureaucratic process that robs taxpayers? As usual, the unions make elected officials reluctant to change the broken system.

Hopefully this article will be an impetus to make some long-overdue changes.

Laurie Trainor, Los Angeles

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To the editor: Is it any wonder why injury claims for Los Angeles Police Department officers and Fire Department personnel are on the rise?

For example, a police officer does his job in a polite manner and is now being investigated by his own department over his handling of an incident involving “Django Unchained” actress Daniele Watts. Furthermore, she gets an Op-Ed article in The Times to express her position.

I must have missed the lengthy piece written in support of the officer.

The officers involved will have good cases for injury leave claims after this.

Cande Crain, Tarzana

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