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Georgia to Pay Back Pensions for Black Police
United Press International
April 19, 2006
Georgia will compensate some black police officers for pensions they are due but were denied because of their race from the 1950s through the '70s.
Gov. Sonny Perdue signed the bill Tuesday.
Officers who were denied entry into the Peace Officers' Annuity and Benefits fund during the Jim Crow-era are able to file for those pensions, provided they meet one of two stipulations.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports they must either be active law enforcement officers or still police certified.
Administrators of the pension fund say there was never a formal policy to ban black officers, and said there is proof black officers were members. But the administrators admitted there was some sort of exclusion.
Retired College Park, Ga., Police Department Capt. James Booker said his application to the fund was rejected. He plans to get what's owed to him but said many former black officers will not.
"Most of them are dead," said Booker.
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