NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) – The family of fallen Connecticut State Police Trooper First Class Aaron Pelletier will not receive his pension, despite being able to collect other forms of compensation and financial benefits.
Pelletier, who leaves behind his widow, Dominique, and two young children, served in the state police for 11 years. By 10 years on the force, he was already eligible, but “for a surviving spouse to collect a pension, the deceased must also have reached age 55 or served the state for 25 years,” Connecticut State Police said in a statement, adding that it is a “glaring gap in our statutes.”
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According to State Comptroller Sean Scanlon, the Pelletier family will immediately receive $100,000 as part of the recently launched Fallen Officers Fund. The family will also collect $100,000 over 10 years as part of the death benefit, in addition to 75% of their income through workers’ compensation. His wife and his surviving children will also recover their pension contributions.
Comptroller Scanlon adds that the family will also be able to access federal support programs, including Tunnel to Towers, which covers mortgage payments for surviving victims.
Andrew Matthews of the Connecticut State Police Union said officers’ families “receive a disability benefit for the rest of the spouse’s life if they don’t remarry and there’s also a financial benefit for the children and that It’s until they turn 23.”
Matthews did not disclose how much workers’ compensation the Pelletier family receives, but said the union “welcomes the legislative reform” and that they are in “constant communication” with the Pelletier family.
“(Pelletier’s wife) fully understands what legal and contractual benefits she is entitled to, and knows that she has 100% support from the union to know that she is taken care of,” Matthews added.
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Sen. Stephen Harding (R-Brookfield) says families of those killed in the line of duty should automatically be entitled to a pension in addition to other existing financial benefits.
“It’s alarming and disturbing,” Harding told News 8. “I’m willing to do anything as a group, myself, to make sure the family gets all the benefits they certainly deserve here. “If we are going to make exceptions, this is certainly one of the cases where we should make an exception.”
A spokesperson for Democratic House Speaker Matt Ritter told News 8, “Hopefully this is something that can be resolved administratively. Otherwise, we will have to work with the State Police Union, state police leadership and the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection to find a solution.”
Lawmakers from both parties say they anticipate this issue will be taken up in the next legislative session.
A online fundraising created by Connecticut State Police Troop H for the family is costing just under $674,000 as of Monday afternoon.
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