21 July—It really pays to be a cop in Connecticut. Even—or especially—if you do something that would have very, very serious consequences for non-cops. You’ll recall, for instance, the travesty of State Police Sgt. John Arthur McDonald, who while driving drunk after a cop bash at a brewery a few years ago ran a stop sign at high speed, causing an accident that seriously injured two victims and totalled their car. He also totalled an unmarked state police cruiser but wasn’t injured himself.

While he was on administrative duty after his crime, McDonald’s handling of a department time-keeping system raised suspicions of veracity, so he was put on administrative suspension. That’s when he resigned from the force.

After the accident, the scumbag McDonald had initially been charged with a felony—motor vehicle assault—and DUI, offenses that could have sent him up the river. But a predictably friendly prosecutor reduced the charges to misdemeanors, netting the clever asshole two years’ probation. Prosecutors and cops love to indulge in mutual masturbation. Judges often join in.

So the scumbag McDonald—thanks to the excessive overtime state cops are allowed to put in to enhance their pensions—is now getting a pension that currently pays him about $76,000 a year. It’s a service-connected disability pension, no less, that pays the bastard more than a regular pension. The state is mum on details of the service-connected disability, justifiably citing medical privacy laws. But consider that if McDonald is gaming the system for a state disability pension, don’t be surprised if he’s also getting Social Security Disability every month.

In April, the Connecticut Police Officers Safety and Training (POST) Council, which issues licenses to work in law enforcement in the state, announced that it was considering pulling McDonald’s credentials. If the scumbag is actually decertified as a cop, he’d be the first rotten apple to be disposed of under a law passed in 2020. POST hasn’t been forthcoming, but I’m not expecting McDonald to be decertified. Are you? Really?

That takes us to Armando Perez, the former Bridgeport police chief who had been convicted of cheating on the chief’s exam. (Did you even know there were chief’s exams? I could have sworn chiefs were all political appointments.) Armando and his co-conspirator actually served federal time for their crimes of wire fraud and false statements and faced loss of their pensions. After 40 years on the force, Armando’s pension was about $102,000.

State law requires the Attorney General “to initiate a civil action seeking reduction or revocation of the pension of any state or municipal official who, in state or federal court, is convicted of or pleads guilty to a crime related to their state or municipal office.” So AG William Tong had to take some time off from infringing the people’s right right to keep and bear arms to do just that.

And on Tuesday a kind-hearted Superior Court judge cut the former chief’s pension in half. She could have taken away the whole thing, to be sure, but evidently took pity on the disgraced chief because of his $725,000 “household debt.” And because he had been a cop? Mrs. Perez, as an innocent spouse, will be getting a quarter of her husband’s reduced pension. I haven’t found any Perez v. Perez court filings, so Isabel, who is a $73,000-a-year surgical technician, evidently has stood by Armando.

It’s worth noting, by the way, that in Connecticut a state or municipal official or employee risks loss of a pension only—repeat, only—if convicted of a money-related felony. Conversely, if he should be convicted of a heinous offense that isn’t directly money-related, like motor vehicle assault and DUI, his pension is inviolate. Go figure.

But it’s Connecticut, after all, where Democratic politicians are shamelessly and shamefully beholden to labor unions, of which the police contingents are among the most powerful and intimidating. And most cops are more likely to be convicted of violent rather than white-collar crimes, so they get to keep their inflated pension come what may. Isn’t that just peachy?

It really pays to be a cop in Connecticut . . .