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Return to Article: Proposed bill could bring retirement equity to law officers

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  If it looks like a duck...I think that it's about time. For too long, Customs Inspectors (excuse me, DHS officer-drones)searched passengers/land border people, in some locales arrested/detained them for the 'not-so-special agents,' carried and qualified with their duty weapons 3 times per year, but were unjustifiably denied 6c because they didn't 'conduct investigations.' Nonsense! Street cops don't sit in a medical facility, or go into an autopsy room to retrieve drug pellets, or testify in federal court. You can no longer counter the 6C pro position with this nonsense. Given the moral decay and 'slide' of this country into chaos, the more young, uniformed officers facing the border, the better! Stop the semantics, and the overtime nonsense, and the ridiculous argument about lack of union representation. I spent my whole federal career in various agencies, and honestly never found the union to adequately my interests, so that's nonsense. No so-called special agent will lose his or her pension because former inspectors have 6c. This is 2005, not 1985.

  GovExec.com reader Posted October 13, 2005 8:28 PM
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  Instead of a jobs program as is the current structure why doesn't Congress just enforce the laws it passed twenty years ago. All government workers should have pay parity not just law officers. However, there is far too many government employees. With pay parity there should be a 1/3 reduction in staffing as well.

  retiring soon Posted September 15, 2005 6:36 AM
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  pay parity....good luck, ours became law 20 some years ago and none of us have seen a penny.

  GovExec.com reader Posted September 14, 2005 12:12 PM
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  If you read the pending bill and proposed enabling instructions the answers to your questions are as follows:

  There will be a mandatory age for retirement, as with all LEOs. The same physical requirements cited in the OPM standards for all LEOs will apply. Positions will be non-bargaining. If you hadn't noticed any newly hired CBP Officers after implementation of DHS are ALL non-bargaining.

  There will be a five-year window for current employees to decide to stay with existing system or converting to a LEO position. Anyone over 40 would be crazy to convert. Contary to belief, retirement under FERS with the COPRA kiker for OT earned within the High-3; is much more favorable than the LEO retirement.

  Rob, CBP Officer
  (too old for 6c)

  Rob Hawes Posted September 14, 2005 5:39 AM
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  This proposal raises a lot of interesting questions.

  Does this mean that those CBP officers who are over 70 years old will finally be forced to retire?

  Also, will this mean that CBP officers would be considered equivalent to federal special agents (ICE, DEA, FBI, ATF, Secret Service, etc.)? If so, would they be classified as "non-bargaining unit" employees, and no longer be eligible for union representation? Or would they remain as they are now, "bargaining unit" employees, and still be able to belong to a union?

  What about hiring qualifications, education and training requirements, physical fitness standards, firearms qualifications, mobility, and a host of other issues?

  This article raises a lot more questions than it answers.

  GovExec.com reader Posted September 13, 2005 5:29 PM