TRENTON – A tragedy turned into a call to action when a young police officer died, and his family was left without death benefits. Senator Jean Stanfield, Assemblyman Michael Torrissi and Assemblyman Brandon Umba will introduce legislation to fix a state pension statute to enable the family to receive the help they need.
Officer Samuel Irvin, of the Mansfield Police Department, tragically passed away during his first month on the job. Due to the timing, Officer Irvin was not yet enrolled into the Pension and Benefits system, creating a dire situation where his fiancé and unborn child will be left without standard death benefits provided to first responders.
Current state statute says that officers are not eligible in the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System until the date of enrollment, which usually takes about a month due to the paperwork involved. Since Officer Irvin passed away during his first month on the job, his family was technically not enrolled, and therefore, not eligible for benefits.
“Obviously, the situation this family is dealing with is awful and tragic. No one wants to have to think about finances at a time like this, but unfortunately that’s exactly what the family must deal with,” Stanfield said.
“That’s why we’re going to aggressively push legislation to change the system and make it so an officer who dies is retroactively enrolled into the pension system on his or her first day on the job,” the Senator continued.
The Irvin family will have a year to enroll into PFRS following the passage of the bill.
“Hopefully no other family will have to use this proposed rule change in the future, but if a situation like this should happen again, we want to make sure no one is ever worried about if their family will be able to afford the basic necessities to live their lives,” Torrissi said.
The 8th District Legislators plan to introduce the law at the earliest possible legislative session, which is scheduled for November. After that, they hope to quickly garner enough support to see it pass.
“It’s unconscionable that the state can leave this family out to dry in their time of need. All it takes to greatly help their futures is a tiny change in state statute. Officer Irvin gave his life to public service. We need to give back to his family,” Umba said.
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