Severely injured police officers say Massachusetts lawmakers won't fight for their benefits: "They just don't care"

Some law enforcement officers severely injured in the line of duty are fighting lawmakers in Massachusetts for full pay.

In 2018, Massachusetts State Police Trooper Jamie Magarian was not worried about his own health. He was a veteran trooper, used to the bumps and injuries that come with the job. One week, his arm popped out of its socket as he held oxygen to the face of a young man in a car wreck. He pushed his arm back in and went back to work.

One wintry day his job was simple, to back up another trooper at a tractor trailer crash on the Massachusetts Turnpike near the Oxford and Auburn line during a snowstorm. Magarian leaned into his cruiser to get his key fob and prepared to put flares on the snowy road. Then, an 87,000-pound truck crashed into the back of his cruiser.

Officers injured in line of duty

"The next thing I remember is the sound of smashing metal. And, basically, my first cognitive memory after that was waking up in an ambulance," Magarian said.

Every day since then, Magarian has been forced to focus on his health. His leg was nearly amputated. He was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury and a neurological disorder. Some days he suffers from seizures or lacks the ability to read clearly.

"I couldn't drive a car. I couldn't be left alone. There are times when I would cognitively come back into the world and there's police officers and paramedics standing in my living room," Magarian said.

His story reads just like that of another officer. Lowell Police Sergeant Vincent Fernandez was hit by a car driven by a fleeing felon in 2016. His arm got stuck to the windshield as the suspect attempted to crash his car into another vehicle.

"The windshield wiper broke, it flung me from the car, I landed on the cobblestones," Fernandez said.

Fernandez was also saddled with a lifetime of physical and neurological issues. He has had seven surgeries on his spine and was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury.

"I don't know if she remembers it but one day my daughter had to help me tie my shoes and I couldn't read," Fernandez said through tears.

Injured first responders receive 72% pension

Both men were medically retired and forced to navigate a complex landscape of financial benefits for injured first responders. If a first responder dies in the line of duty, their family is eligible for 100% of their base pay. For most injured first responders, the maximum they receive is a 72% pension, with the amount they can earn on top of that capped by a state retirement board.

The officers told WBZ-TV the 72% benefit made life challenging with their many complex medical needs. Fernandez's two children were 10 and 6 at the time he was injured.

"We incurred tens of thousands of dollars in personal costs to pay for co-pays and deductibles and out of pocket costs and I could barely function, let alone help my family," Fernandez said.

A law passed in 2024 is giving both Magarian and Fernandez hope. It grants 100% of base pay to first responders who suffer "a catastrophic, life-threatening or life-altering and permanent bodily injury sustained as a direct and proximate result of a violent attack upon a person by means of a dangerous weapon." 

The law was spearheaded by injured Somerville Police detective Mario Oliveira. "Survival isn't the end of the story, for many, it's where the hardest part begins," Oliveira told WBZ.

Neither Magarian nor Fernandez qualify for 100% under the law since their cases fall outside the law's two-year timeframe. But there is another way for both of them to get 100%. It involves filing special, individual legislation, approved by the Legislature. In Fernandez's case, it first needs sign-off from Lowell City Hall.

Special legislation "dies every year"

Magarian's special legislation was submitted to the legislature in 2019 and has sat there since. "It gets to the Ways and Means Committee, and it dies there. And it dies every year," he said.

Fernandez cannot get Lowell city leaders to approve his home rule petition before it heads to the State House. "I think it's a tough realization that nobody cares about the trauma and suffering that my family has gone through," he said.

Oliveira told WBZ there are four injured police officers who already have special legislation approved by their municipalities. Their bills just need a rubber stamp from the Legislature. "And they've been waiting two years for a simple sign off from the state," Oliveira said.

Magarian and one other injured trooper are also waiting for any news from the State House. A 100% pension has never been granted to a catastrophically injured Massachusetts state trooper.

WBZ reached out to Lowell city officials multiple times for this story.

Lowell City Manager Tom Golden sent a statement saying, "Since this is a personal matter, I am not at liberty to discuss all of the details. However, the City of Lowell has always been very supportive of its employees. We will work with the Lowell Retirement board and Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission (PERAC) towards a final resolution"

WBZ also reached out to every legislator representing Fernandez and Magarian, as well as the Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Only State Senator Jake Oliveira responded with a statement saying in part, "Legislation that would address these cases is currently pending before the Massachusetts House of Representatives. I support this legislation and am a cosponsor of the bill."

Both officers told WBZ that the wait has added to their mental struggles.

"After spending my career, half my life, helping and caring for others, I now need help," Magarian said, "And no one is willing to listen. They just don't care."