At least 150 Minneapolis Police Officers have begun the process of seeking ‘duty disability’ for post-traumatic stress under the Minnesota Public Employees Retirement Association.
According to Fox 9, 75 of those officers are under doctors’ orders not to return to work as they undergo treatment for symptoms consistent with PTSD.
The trauma reached a tipping point with the siege of the Third Police Precinct, where many of the affected officers were working from.
Ron Meuser, the attorney who handles most disability claims for the Minneapolis Police Federation, said that the officers “…did not feel they were going to come home,” and some officers were texting their families’ goodbye and others were saving a bullet in case they needed to take their own life, rather than being beaten to death, he said.
Meuser said since the killing of George Floyd, officers have felt abandoned by city and state politicians as well as the community at large.
Meuser said that most of the officers seeking disability are veterans of the department with 16 to 23 years of experience.
Several Minneapolis officers have already retired since the riots and sources tell Law Officer that “many more” are considering an early departure from the agency.
