The Merit Systems Protection Board recently rejected
a Federal Protective Service police officer’s challenge
to the General Services Administration’s denial of his
second application for a law enforcement retirement credit.
To qualify for a law enforcement retirement credit
under FERS, the officer must have demonstrated that his
duties involved the investigation, apprehension or
detention of suspects, or that his duties involved
protecting U.S. officials against threats to their
personal safety. In addition, he must have proved that
his duties were generally limited to the “young and
physically vigorous.”
After the agency rejected the officer’s first attempt
because it found his duties did not fall within that
description, the officer reapplied for the credit. The
officer argued that after the agency issued a new
regulation requiring additional medical testing for
police officers, and because the terrorist attacks of
September 11 ushered in a “climate of violence and
terrorism,” his duties fell within the description
entitling him to the credit. Without reaching the
merits of his second claim, the Board rejected his
application, finding that the denial of his first
application precluded him from reasserting essentially
the same arguments.
The full text of the decision can be found here:
http://www.mspb.gov/decisions/2004/slater_sf010618i1.html
