After Matt Fleischer’s story about the reportedly forced retirement of LASD’s embattled captains, Bernice Abram and Dan Cruz, we wondered exactly what kind of taxpayer-funded post-retirement pension dollars each might expect to receive.
Here’s what we found out:
According to the 2010 Southern California Public Employee Data Base, in 2010 Bernice Abrams had a yearly base pay of $149,764, which with recent salary freezes, likely remained around the same for the past two years.
Dan Cruz made $171,490 in base pay in 2010..
(Both Abram and Cruz made far more with overtime and benefits, but for our purposes now, it is only the base pay that matters.)
Cruz is 57 years old, and has been with the department for 33 years thus, according to the formulas we were given by sources, he gets approximately 86.13 percent of his highest year of base pay.
Abrams, at 54, has worked for the department for 29 years and gets approximately 71.05 percent of her highest base salary.
This means that Bernice Abrams will get a yearly pension of approximately: $106,407—plus full medical coverage for life.
Dan Cruz’s yearly pension will be approximately: $147,704-–plus full medical coverage for life.
We just thought you might want to know.
I would bet they gave Abrams a ccw approved id also. Seems once you reach capt or higher you cant do any wrong. You are deemed disabled for pension purposes even though you havent been classified as arduous for 15 years or more. Might be worth checking if Abrams or Cruz got a disability for some claimed problem. It might have been pushed that way to get them to go quietly. God forbid either tell the truth and cause problems. PLus if a disability retirement they would have more cash to contribute to political campaigns………you never know.
Who really cares? Where’s the outcry when billions of dollars are eeked away with the Enron scandal? What about the thousands of taxpayer dollars Villaragosa spends on trips to promote the economy? I’d like to see the formulas on that one.
What about the Merill Lynch debacle, all the subprime and selling of mortgages?
And you think two county pensions are gonna rock the world? Jesus Christ, everyone can figure it out on our own.
Yep, Abrams and Cruz are jerks, but who accelerated them up the through the rank structure to their unit commander positions without sufficient experience, demonstrated exceptional performance and integrity and education? Baca and Tanaka!
Coincidently, the Daily News published a story today about jailed LACo Assessor John Noguez’s promotional practices. They sound eerily similar to what I have observed since Baca took office. A few points in the Daily News article:
“Until his arrest on charges of accepting bribes, disgraced county Assessor John Noguez dished out promotions to cronies who may have been unworthy of them, according to an audit released Thursday.”
“Assessor’s (Office) employees indicated there is widespread belief that favoritism played a significant role in promotions when the current assessor was elected,” Auditor-Controller Wendy Watanabe wrote in her report to the county Board of Supervisors, which had ordered the audit.”
“Watanabe’s office did not conduct the audit itself, instead hiring a private consultant, David Howe of Strategica Inc., to do the work.”
“…Since Noquez’s election in 2010, almost half of the Assessor’s Office’s senior managers have left, primarily due to retirement. Watanabe said the audit found some of their replacements were not up to par.”
Sound familiar?
Pension reform now. sign the petition at: http://www.afpcalifornia.com/home
The 2012 reform was just a taste. The Governor has promised to clamp down even more this year. There are over one hundred pages of GED cops complaining that they didn’t get promoted on this web site. There are exactly zero pages of any of them suggesting ways to help the community.
They are on the job for money and pensions. Let’s trim them back some more. By the way, new hires this month cannot receive more than $132,000 on their pension. I predict you will see far less complaining about who got promoted, and who wants to be Sheriff, once the pensions are adjusted to a reasonable level.
Haha it’s funny to see adults on here acting like 16 year olds on Facebook. And it’s also funny how this site says noting positive about Lasd. If I were a deputy sheriff on patrol I’d give these journey Celeste’s a piece of my mind and boot. It’s the Lasd this isn’t Boy Scouts no matter how deep they search for the truth it’s ugly and always will be ugly the Lasd is not exactly moral like the lapd is trying and succeeding to be. They’re deputy’s!!!!!!!!!! Just like tanaka Cruz Olmsted and all the others once a deputy always a deputy they all work the gray even baca who’s is literally the squeekiest cleanest in the Lasd. I agree with other posters on here the future on the country’s financial stability is at risk and we care oh much about some criminals who got beat up in county an for some poor fools who got shot by some trigger happy deps who work ghetto areas all day and night dealing with scum. Come on now enough of this soap opera. Lasd is always going to be full of tough hard assed people who dip to the edge of the line to serve justice
By California public “servant” standards, these pensions don’t seem all that high. By non-government standards, they’re enormous. They are equivalent to having over $3,000,000 in savings.
California (and other states, but especially CA) has grown a public sector that has huge pension entitlements, and *that’s* the real scandal.
Buzz: were you an only child?
No I have a brother and sister. But my stance comes from talking to alot of Lasd personnel and I have one captain and 2 deputies in my family that are in Lasd
Can anyone validate with specific knowledge that Abrams was given a CCW Retirement Credential? They are actually processed at the Retirement Desk at Personnel so would think it would be easy to find out with the right connections. If in fact she was authorized a CCW by Tanaka, that would be an ultimate slap in our face and spit in our eye along with a huge F-U to all. The IAB clearly proved what she was doing, forget about the DA Reject, the facts are the facts.
Also on another topic, I am told by an attendee of the funeral in Pasadena for the LET that was tragically murdered last week, that Sheriff Baca spoke and made a complete ass of himself (again) by uttering the wrong name of the deceased. Can someone verify please?
Buzz: I was being facetious! For you to paint us all with the same brush as Tanaka and Baca indicates that you don’t know these men very well. As far as Bob Olmsted there isn’t a better man either on or off the job! I know all three men you mentioned and know their families. You couldn’t be more wrong! Please be more careful as to the use of your words and thoughts as they describe people of the communities we serve and swore to protect. Hitler in ‘Mein Kampf’ or my struggle had the same thoughts that is was easy to hate once you can degrade a person to less than human. To me the “Grey Area” means to work outside the law where you and your family are at total exposure. And there ain’t no way I’m doing that! If your definition is staying within the law and being aggressive to ensure everyone’s safety then I agree.
Bones: I don’t think Abrams got her ID for the simple fact of liability. If she takes her gun and hurts someone Baca is on the hook. I know Baca is stupid but he does, occasionally, has moments of clarity. Cruz in another matter. Cruz did cooperate with the IA and refused to take the punishment. I bet he got his ID. As far as Baca saying stupid stuff at funerals; I bet a months pay he did!
J. London- The fact you WASTED one letter on him much less 2 paragraphs really doesn’t say much for you.
OUCH
Perhaps!
Witness L.A. – Why do allow London to comment on Olmsted’s off the job life favorably and say Baca is dirty, but you edit my comments refuting Olmsted’s clean off the job life. Does it fit your agenda to only allow Baca to be slammed about off duty stuff?
And why not edit just that? Why edit the fact that Olmsted never opened one single unit level investigation while he was the Captain of CJ. Why did he only bring up the supposed atrocities after he was gone? Why not show the gray area he worked as a patrol deputy at Firestone with Cruz and others? Your agenda is showing.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
At the moment, I’m getting extremely fed up with the endless personal attacks. I dislike being forced to be a playground supervisor, a role I have neither the time nor inclination to perform.
So dial it back or I’m going to close the comments on these threads for a while.
Cinque,
I deleted your comment because you started trashing someone’s personal life, which is entirely inappropriate. (When you start bringing dead spouses into the mix, we’re done.)
As for J. London saying Baca is “dirty” etc. etc. I didn’t see it earlier because the rest of that comment was perfectly appropriate and measured. The Baca sentence, however, has been snipped out.
Also, a warning to everyone: any more broadside attacks on Jim Hellmold will be deleted. The lively discussion of whether he is or isn’t the right choice for A/S was fine. Character assassination is not. Enough.
Most of the commenting on both sides of the various questions are welcomed. But these last few threads have started to veer off the track. So everyone please be mindful.
Thanks for your cooperation.
C.
Haha I love a good toss up j. London you sir have never been or even known anyone personally from Lasd I bet a months pay!! Although you have good writing skills even if you did by chance work for Lasd you have wasted you life beacause I’m sure you couldn’t get passes the rank or sgt. If that bottle of red wine helps you get thorough the day so be it but don’t question other people’s comments with your false knowledge of thinking just because you read a blog means you know anything about what’s happening in the lasd
Cinque: You are way out of line on your statements. Olmsted DID open a number of unit level cases as well as IAB cases and they involved deputies, sergeants and lieutenants as Subjects and the were disciplined. So you are very misinformed and your statements are very misguided. In fact he terminated a deputy for steroid use at MCJ and this individual was a self proclaimed leader of one of the cliques at MCJ until Olmsted showed him the door. Steroid use has been problematic at MCJ and other units along with the effects of “Roid Rage.” And why? Because little boys are so insecure and have such low self esteem they have to join the schoolyard clique of hard guys so the can “belong?” So in order to “belong” they have to juice-up, so they do? And then they form their little Juice Boys clique, get some ink and rage out on inmates, bully their peers and supervisors and this makes them men? Cops? Honorable law enforcement professionals? I think not and unfortunately they are out there; Custody, Patrol, elsewhere. And they think they are invenceable. And cowardly peers, supervisors and managers protect them until they cannot be protected any longer.
Olmsted’s management style was to hold sergeants and lieutenants to a standard and expected them to be on the floors and actually supervise. Oh yes Tanaka lovers, I know you hate that term, “supervise,” what a novel concept. Force incidents went down, Olmsted walked the floors himself, all the time. He would say, “Expect what you inspect,” and the bad boys, the juice heads resented it. Well the Juice Boys are going to resent Grand Jury indictments all the more. And they are going to find out like a manager just found out recently. You think someone has got your back, as you have told all these recent years? Nope, when you look around, no one is there but you ’cause the person you thought was going to throw you a life line just slammed the door ’cause he’s gonna save his own ass first. “No one ever told me of any force problems at MCJ, never. And if they said they did, they are a liar.” Catch my drift? Just ask Cavanaugh.
And more thing Cinque, you don’t know Jack about Olmsted. Not his professional life nor his personal life. He tried to do the right thing long before he retired and stop this foolishness before it became what it is today. Baca would not listen and I bet he wish he did now. Olmsted’s response from up top was a threatened transfer to PDC. Well, the rest is history, Olmsted made it a public issue for the sake of the future of LASD and that took some mighty big stones. Cavanaugh is gone along with many others who would not listen, were in denial or thought the little man had their back. Baca and the little man along with all the Cigar Club crowd are all that’s left and they have a date with the Feds is just around the corner.
Cinque, you don’t know Jack. But I do and Jack is a friend of mine. Cinque, you’re no Jack with your misguided comments and cheap, personal attacks against Bob Olmsted. He is an honerable man who has suffered tremendously for doing the right thing for the betterment of LASD now and in the future. Can you imagine what things would be like internally this very moment if none of these stories reported by the Times and WLA did not come to light? A very scary thought.
Buzz: I wouldn’t place that bet!
Then if u do work for Lasd your a disgrace for coming on here and spilling your guts like a 15 year old girl
#19: A quote–“All that is required for Evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing.”
Edmund Burke