The battle over pension reform is hitting the Internet: The Empire Center for New York State Policy, a non-profit arm of the conservative-leaning Manhattan Institute, wants to post the names of all people receiving police pensions in NY State. But retired NYPD officers object, saying the information could jeopardize their safety; one told NY1, "Is my family going to be threatened? Am I going to be receiving phone calls? It is just not right."
The Empire Center's Tim Hoefer said, "Inherently, transparency makes people more accountable and makes for a more honest system. The fact that they are trying to hide it is raising a red flag for us." The group believes taxpayers have a right to know who is getting a pension (the average pension is over $58,000/year) and is fighting the retired NYPD officers in court to post the information.
Retired deputy chief Kevin Clark said, "Members in combat that have been fatal to the perpetrator or the perpetrator was injured. And we have numerous people who are incarcerated who would be very interested in that information." And an undercover cop said, "We were being protected from giving out our names and showing our faces. Now that we are civilians we are not protected." However, Hoefer says the information is available through the Freedom of Information act.
The Empire Center has names of retired police officers from the rest of the state.
