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NEW BEDFORD — The city is appealing the disability retirement of a police officer who left the force in March for post-traumatic stress disorder.
Jacob Oliveira, 38, who served about 14 years with the Police Department, says he has suffered from chronic PTSD as a result of the incidents he responded to as a patrol officer: witnessing a death by suicide and an attempted suicide, responding to a decomposing body, and being shot at.
He was evaluated by three physicians appointed by the state’s retirement commission, who unanimously agreed his condition results from what he experienced as an officer, and is likely to be permanent.
The physicians concluded that he could not safely continue working as a police officer, according to records Oliveira provided to The Light.
The city, however, says that Oliveira’s condition may not be permanent. An evaluation from a city-paid physician in January concluded Oliveira can be helped with treatment, after which he can return to full duty.
Oliveira retired March 12. The city filed its appeal on March 25 with a state agency.
Retirement process
The retirement application, which takes months to process and can result in a rejection, requires the applicant’s employer to answer questions. It also gives the employer an opportunity to supply the retirement board with any pertinent information, including material that could lead to a denial. The city completed its statement last July.
About six months later, the city hired a psychiatrist to evaluate Oliveira after he had been seen by the state-appointed physicians.
First Assistant City Solicitor Ryan Pavao in an emailed statement said the city is appealing because that evaluation was not available to the medical panel at the time it made its determination. He also mentioned the “prospect of litigation” in a subsequent statement this past week.
The city had its evaluation in hand by Jan. 27, but Pavao said it did not have an opportunity to inform the New Bedford Retirement Board about it before the board approved Oliveira’s application on Jan. 29. A city auditor and a person appointed by the mayor sit on the five-person board.
The state Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission (PERAC) approved Oliveira’s application in late February.
“The appeal is being taken simply to provide this new information to the Board and medical panel to see if it affects their determination,” Pavao wrote.
As of mid-April, neither the board nor PERAC had received the city’s evaluation.
“Once in receipt, the Board will review and determine what next steps, if any, are appropriate. Until such time, the entire premise is speculative,” New Bedford Retirement Board Executive Director Eric Cohen said in an email.
According to a statement from PERAC, it “rarely” sees medical evaluations submitted by an applicant’s employer: “If we receive one, it would be forwarded to the medical panel along with all materials from the employer statement and all medical records received.”
The city’s appeal is before the state Division of Administrative Law Appeals (DALA). A spokesperson for DALA in an email said the agency does not comment on specific cases, but that “any person aggrieved” by a decision of a retirement board may appeal within a 15-day window.
Evaluations
According to medical records Oliveira shared with The Light and submitted to the retirement bodies, he has gone to therapy and taken different medications over the years to treat his symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
The state-appointed physicians, also psychiatrists, evaluated Oliveira separately for under an hour, and concluded he would be unable to continue in his duties. (As an accidental disability retiree, Oliveira will be required to undergo regular medical evaluations.)
The city-appointed psychiatrist affirmed a PTSD diagnosis, but wrote it was resolving with residual symptoms. The psychiatrist also wrote Oliveira was engaging in “symptom exaggeration,” and that the reporting of his symptoms was occurring in the context of “anger at his employer,” according to records Oliveira shared with The Light.
The psychiatrist concluded Oliveira was a “capable young man” who could continue working on light duty (typically desk work). After attending a trauma program, he could return to work in his full capacity as a patrol officer, the psychiatrist wrote.
Oliveira confirmed he is angry with the city, saying the department denied his request to go back on paid leave. Per Oliveira and the employer’s statement, he was previously on both paid leave and light duty.
PTSD in law enforcement
First responders face a higher risk of the stress disorder. Still, two people may respond to stressors or triggers differently, said Arash Javanbakht, a psychiatrist and director of the stress and trauma research clinic at Wayne State University.
Their past with trauma, life experiences, and genetics all may shape why one officer is traumatized more than another. Some officers also might not realize what they are experiencing is PTSD, or might be in denial about it, perhaps due to stigma.
For some people, PTSD can resolve by itself or symptoms can be reduced with treatments, Javanbakht said, but for other people, it doesn’t. It can also lead to or contribute to other illnesses, like diabetes and high blood pressure.
In an emailed statement, Police Chief Jason Thody did not speak directly about Oliveira, saying all employees have access to confidential and no-cost wellness services.
“I encourage everyone on our team who is having a tough time to seek help, whether it’s exploring one of those resources, or simply taking a few minutes to talk to a fellow officer, supervisor, mentor or friend,” Thody said. “Being a police officer is one of the hardest jobs in the world, but it’s also one of the most rewarding.”
Thody, in a March letter to Oliveira, said the city’s evaluation recommended that he attend a trauma processing program, which would be covered by the department.
“We also want to advise you that, based on the fitness for duty report, a failure to attend this voluntary program could result in you being considered unfit to be a police officer,” Thody wrote in the March 11 letter. The city was informed on March 10 that Oliveira was retiring effective March 12.
Oliveira said Thody’s letter came “too little too late,” as he had already signed his retirement paperwork. Days later, the New Bedford Police Department in a Facebook post congratulated Oliveira on his retirement, wishing him well and thanking him for “answering the call day in and day out across the city.”
Pensions a significant cost for cities
Oliveira is set to earn 72% to 75% of his annual pay; his base salary as of last year was about $77,000, per city payroll data. He will also retain other benefits, including health insurance.
Because of his age and time served, Oliveira was not eligible for “regular” retirement, called superannuation.
The state has more than 246,000 public retirees. Accidental disability retirees, those who sustained their disability while on the job, make up 5.1% of that total, per data from PERAC. Of that accidental disability subset, 19% (or nearly 2,400) are police officers.
PERAC approved about 92% to 97% of accidental disability retirement applications that it reviewed between 2020 and 2025.
The state commission has seen an increase in the number of PTSD applications for accidental disability retirement, said PERAC Executive Director William Keefe.
“Our belief for the increase is the lessening of the societal stigma attached to mental health,” Keefe said by email. “While there have long been elements in place with certain public jobs — particularly public safety — that could cause PTSD, symptoms either were not recognized as such, or a worker was reluctant to come forward and seek treatment.”
The New Bedford Retirement System currently has 1,870 payees, according to Cohen. Aside from the city, they come from the vocational high school, SRTA, the Housing Authority and Greater New Bedford Regional Refuse District. Payees include not only retirees, but also beneficiaries of retirees or members who may have died while employed.
Pension contributions are the biggest expense for the city, with it spending more than $40 million last year (bigger than the Police Department’s budget), The Light previously reported. Mayor Jon Mitchell in a presentation to the City Council last year described the pension system as a major budget item that adds to the burden on taxpayers.
Of the nearly 1,900 payees in the system, about 14% are accidental disability retirees, per data provided by Cohen. Of that group, 65% are either Fire Department or Police Department retirees.
An official with the Massachusetts Municipal Association said that from a financial perspective, early retirements, including accidental disability, can be costly for a municipality. Having a stringent process, like an assessment by a medical review board, they said, can help ensure both taxpayers and public employees, some of whom risk their lives, are protected.
Some municipalities have tried to limit PTSD retirements or presumptions in order to stem fiscal impacts. Debates often center on balancing the safety net for first responders with taxpayer interests and the financial realities municipalities face.
After the George Floyd protests, Minnesota police officers retired on disability for PTSD in droves. It caused a steep increase of about $40 million in the cost of the police and fire pension plan. In response, lawmakers passed a bill requiring officers undergo 24 weeks of psychological treatment before retiring.
A jump in early retirements can also compound the retention and staffing problems police departments are facing across the country, including in New Bedford.
As the appeal process plays out, Oliveira was scheduled to receive his first payment this past week.
Email Anastasia E. Lennon at alennon@newbedfordlight.org.
I believe that this police officer does suffer from PTSD. He may by upset with his employer, but this is independent of his situation and does not diminish the PTSD that he is experiencing. There is no such thing as “temporary PTSD”. The persons deciding what he is mentally experiencing, cannot in any way know or feel what this officer is feeling. I worked full-time took care of my two children as well as taking care of my sick husband, and when he passed away there were people who meant well but had never experienced the loss of their spouse, said to me “you’ll feel better in a year”. I felt like a part of me died. I felt like a robot for 5 years going through the motions of life. It is in my humble opinion is that these psychiatrists making these decisions have not experienced what this officer has, and they are basing their opinion on textbook, or some “research” that is inconclusive and inconsistent of what this officer is experiencing, and I am confident that they have never experienced what that police officer has. Shame on them and shame on on the psychiatric “ professionals “ whom have forgotten about the Neurobiology of the brain and how it reacts to trauma. They have likely been in their position for too long and have forgotten the basics. I certainly hope that they don’t honestly believe that a rape victim’s trauma is temporary; or that the family of a murder victim’s loss of life is temporary; they won’t be back. That family is empty, lost and broken. Light duty will not help this officer with PTSD.. perhaps he gets a call to a shooting, a murder, an abduction, a hostage situation, a sexual assault, and worse case scenario “ shots fired, officer down”! He may freeze, and be incapable of relaying the transmission. Who wants to be responsible for that?? After all, he made it known that he had PTSD and was incapable of performing his duties. People who thought they knew better did not believe him and sent him back to work. I want to know who is going to to step up to the plate and admit that they were wrong, and take full responsibility for the possible loss of life ? Can I get an answer?? Thank you.
“Annual pay” is not equivalent to “base salary”. “Annual pay”includes overtime pay and other available “compensations” to Jacob Oliveira.
What was the “annual pay” that was used to calculate the retirement benefit of Jacob Oliveira? What is the total annual retirement benefit being paid to Jacob Oliveira? What are all of the benefits, including health insurance, that will be retained by Jacob Oliveira and what is their current cost to the City of New Bedford?
What is the actual and current funding level for all pensions that are the responsibility of the City of New Bedford?
How much of the current and future pension responsibility is related to employees, initially hired by grant monies, whose pension responsibility is now that of the City of New Bedford?
many police officers first responders suffer from PTSD its about time those that employ them face the reality and cost of the end result
Agree!
I totally agree! But be forewarned over what recently happened regarding a service connected injury retiree. The City hires investigators to check on these individuals. For the rest of your life, no matter where you go or what you do, somebody could be watching!