A former Sierra Vista police officer who has fought for three years to be approved for an accidental disability pension has been turned down again on appeal, in a process that has cost city taxpayers more than $21,000, according to a city official.
Jock Russell first applied to the Sierra Vista Public Safety Personnel Retirement System Local Board in 2018 for a pension following his second term of employment with the city. His application was denied three times by the five-member board, which consists of the mayor, two active-duty police officers, a Human Resource employee, and a member of the public.
And last week, the Local Board’s denial was affirmed by Judge Jason Lindstrom of the Cochise County Superior Court, who found there to be “substantial evidence in the record to support the Local Board’s decision,” and that nothing in the record suggested the members acted arbitrarily, capriciously, or had abused its discretion in handling Russell’s pension application.
According to Sierra Vista City Clerk Jill Adams, the city has paid $19,058 in attorney’s fees related to Russell’s pension efforts. Another $2,420 has been paid for “medical services and consultations,” Adams told Arizona Daily Independent.
Public records show Russell, now 57, first went to work for the Sierra Vista Police Department in February 2002. During that first term of employment, Russell experienced what Lindstrom described as “a traumatic life-threatening event” while on-duty with a DEA taskforce.
Referred to by Lindstrom as “the Cartel Event,” Russell came to believe during the event that he would be killed. The judge noted the experience triggered a heavy emotional burden on Russell as well as his mental health “and impacted his daily life and career.”
Eventually Russell ended his city employment in 2010 following a back injury unrelated to the Cartel Event. At the time, Russell withdrew his contributions to Arizona’s Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (PSPRS) and was no longer a member.
But in 2013, Russell was able to demonstrate his back injury was healed and was rehired as a Sierra Vista police officer. He also went back into the PRPRS based on his new date of hire by which to earn benefits.
Fast forward to February 2018 when Russell was involved in what Lindstrom called “the DUI Event” involving the suicide of a man Russell had arrested for DUI. During the traffic stop, Russell seized a gun from the man then processed the necessary paperwork for the DUI charge.
But instead of booking the man into the county jail, Russell used his discretion in accordance with state law and drove the man home. Once at the home, Russell gave the firearm back to the man, who used it that evening to shoot himself in the head.
Russell was one of the patrol officers who later responded to the man’s home in response to a request for a welfare check. He soon voluntarily removed himself from patrol and he was eventually diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
After a period of leave, Russell resigned in August 2018. His resignation letter would later play an important role in his pension dispute, as it did not refer to his traumatic work experiences or mental health considerations. Instead, Russell’s letter referenced his goal of working with peace officers in a different professional capacity. (At the time he was pursing a PhD in psychology or psychiatry.)
Russell applied later that month for accidental disability benefits through the Local Board of the PSPRS, citing the deadly DUI suicide as the cause of his disabling mental health condition.
The Local Board contracted with Dr. Gary Prince to conduct a mandatory independent medical examination, or IME. The members also interviewed Russell about the “stressors of his personal and family life” as well as work-related issues he said triggered his mental health concerns.
Although Russell discussed the suicide DUI Event, there was also a lot of focus on the effect the Cartel Event had on him, which predated his rehire. There were also witnesses who testified that Russell intended to pursue a side business related to mental health work with law enforcement officers.
The Local Board denied Russell’s disability claim, concluding he did not resign for mental health reasons, even though the members acknowledged the February 2018 suicide DUI Event could be considered the “final culminating event” leading to the resignation. The members also cited Russell’s admitted marital troubles, frequent bouts of insomnia, and ongoing depression, as well as starting a new business while employed fulltime by the city and undertaking a demanding PhD program.
The Local Board came to the same conclusion even after granting Russell a rehearing in December 2019, and after holding a second rehearing at the request of the PSPRS’s State Board to address a conflict between Dr. Prince’s conclusions about Russell’s mental health issues and the board’s decision.
Lindstrom’s Oct. 29 order notes the basis for the Local Board’s decision was well documented in the record. He added that the members went so far as to find that if Russell had resigned for mental health reasons, “the Cartel Event was the primary event in Russell’s mental health diagnosis” and thus preexisted his second membership with PSPRS.
“This Court does not find that the Local Board acted contrary to law,” Lindstrom wrote in his order. “The law does not require the Local Board to act as a rubber stamp for the medical board. To the contrary, the final decision is vested in the Local Board and they are responsible to reconcile the totality of the evidence and make difficult decisions where they find any conflicts.”
And the judge went one step further, pointing out that while Dr. Prince was bound to report his conclusions based on the independent medical examination, the Local Board is charged under state law with considering a wider range of facts and circumstances, of which the IME is only one.
“If the process intended the IME to be the sole item for consideration by the Local Board, that legal conclusion would tend to render the Local Board’s wider investigation completely irrelevant,” Lindstrom wrote.
Had Russell been approved for the disability pension, he would have received $3,165 per month based on his average monthly compensation of $6,300.
In between his two terms as a Sierra Vista police officer, Russell was hired by the city in February 2011 as a records supervisor. That job did not require a peace officer certification, nor did it qualify for PSPRS membership.
