We’ve worked with tons of police officers over the years and for some reason we’ve (gratefully) been called by more officers this year than any other so far.
Police officers who get injured while working are for the most part no different than any other worker who gets hurt on the job. There are two big exceptions.
The first is that City of Chicago officers are not covered under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act. This is from some special legislation from a long time ago which barred officers and firefighters in cities with more than 200,000 people from falling under the Work Comp Act. Chicago is the only city affected by this of course. So you can get injured at work in Chicago and not be covered, but if you are a cop in Evanston, Skokie, Tinley Park, Oak Park or any other place that touches Chicago (or any other place in Illinois for that matter) you are covered. It’s kind of a weird rule given that many of the dangers are the same but it was special legislation designed to save the City some money.
The second exception is that we see more post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) cases with officers than any other industry. We’ve worked with some county sheriffs for example who were Iraq war veterans and came across dead bodies during an investigation. This lead to terrible PTSD and that is a compensable claim.
We see just about every type of injury for officers. The biggies are torn Achilles or knee injuries from running, back injuries from lifting and quite often car accidents.
Some of our callers are being falsely told that they aren’t eligible for work comp because of their profession. Again, unless you are in Chicago, that’s not true and note that this law doesn’t apply to traffic aides or other support staff.
It’s an honor to represent anyone with a work injury and a special honor when it’s someone who serves the community. If you have questions or want our help, anywhere in Illinois, call us at (312) 346-5578 or fill out our contact form. It’s always free and confidential.