Jason Higgins, the Plymouth police captain who for years was the department’s public face, is still on the payroll — more than five months after he stopped working and applied for a pension.
Higgins, 50, is collecting “injured on duty” pay — meaning that he has been receiving his full salary tax-free ever since he left the department in early December.
On Dec. 12 he applied for the disability pension, notifying the town’s retirement board that he could no longer perform the duties of his job.
Higgins was paid $86,058 between December and May – more than $3,700 a week, according to town payroll records. If he continues to receive that pay for a year, he will collect $194,566.
If his application is approved, he would collect 72 percent of his pay, mostly tax-free, for life.
Higgins, who was the department’s head of professional standards and the department spokesperson, cited multiple traumatic episodes going back to his earliest days with the department.
Karry Barros, assistant director of the town’s retirement office, said it can take six to nine months or even longer for officials to act on an application for a disability pension.
An applicant who files for an accidental disability pension must undergo several medical exams.
Higgins’s lawyer, Leigh Panettiere, said the delay is not unusual.
“The Plymouth Retirement Board appears to be working on this very diligently, and in my experience, it is moving along fairly quickly,” she said in an emailed statement.
“While that process is pending, he is granted – by law – his base salary. Compensating injured police officers with their base salary while they are injured is the very least we can do for these men and women who risk their lives to keep the rest of us safe,” Panettiere wrote. “Capt. Higgins is cooperating every step of the way. We expect it to be complete in a few more months.”
Higgins rose through the ranks after joining the department in 1997.
During his time on the force, he was involved in many of the department’s significant cases and activities, winning numerous awards for saving lives and solving crimes. He was also responsible for imposing discipline on officers who violated the rules, a role that sometimes strained his relationships with co-workers.
In a written statement in December, Higgins said it had been his honor to serve Plymouth for decades – ever since he was a teenager working as a Plymouth Beach police officer.
“I have handled everything that this town could throw at me over my career,” he wrote. “I’m grateful that I was put in positions where I was truly able to help people.”
He described his co-workers as “some of the finest people that anyone could ask to work with. The department is in great hands with the current command staff.”
It’s unclear exactly how much he will receive if his pension request is approved. Benefits are based on base pay increased by “other pay” that an employee regularly receives such as education and longevity benefits.
Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindependent.org.