History

The Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) Act (42

U.S.C. 3796, et seq.) was enacted in 1976 to assist in the

recruitment and retention of law enforcement officers

and firefighters. Specifically, Congress was concerned

that the hazards inherent in law enforcement and fire

suppression and the low level of state and local death

benefits might discourage qualified individuals from

seeking careers in these fields, thus hampering the ability of communities to provide for public safety.

The PSOB Act was designed to offer peace of mind to

men and women seeking careers in public safety and to

make a strong statement about the value American society places on the contributions of those who serve their

communities in potentially dangerous circumstances.

The resultant PSOB Program, which is administered by

the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), presents a

unique opportunity for the U.S. Department of Justice;

federal, state, and local public safety agencies; and national public safety organizations to become involved in

Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Bureau of Justice Assistance

PSOB Service Standards Commitment

To provide our services in the most sensitive and

professional manner, PSOB staff receive training on

key issues associated with grief, critical incident

stress, and posttraumatic stress disorder. We also solicit and use information provided to us on the tone

and impact of our verbal and written communication

with the public safety field.

One example of the PSOB Program giving more to

the field is a series of regional training sessions conducted to help law enforcement agencies prepare for

the loss of an officer. It is essential that all public

safety agencies be prepared to effectively assist the

family, fellow officers, and the community to move

forward in the aftermath of a tragedy.

Our commitment to support the public safety community has never been stronger, and it will continue

to grow.

The mission of the PSOB staff is to assist public

safety officers, their agencies, and their families before, during, and after a tragedy occurs. Three core

values guide our daily operations and measure our

performance. They are:

❑ We will respond rapidly and accurately to

PSOB death and disability benefits claims.

❑ We will be humane in our support of public

safety officers, their agencies, and their

families.

❑ We will seek and pursue opportunities to

expand our assistance to the public safety

field.

To improve our response time, we continuously assess our allocation of staff and organizational processes. To ensure accuracy, we will use medicolegal

experts and independent legal analyses from outside

the PSOB Program.
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promoting the protection of public safety officers before

tragedies occur. Each year, the PSOB Program receives

substantial information about line of duty deaths and encourages public safety agencies to adopt model policies

that can help guide an agency through the tragic event of

a line of duty death.

PSOB Program Benefits

The PSOB Program provides a one-time financial benefit to the eligible survivors of public safety officers

whose deaths are the direct and proximate result of a

traumatic injury sustained in the line of duty. The benefit

was increased from $50,000 to $100,000 for deaths occurring on or after June 1, 1988. Since October 15,

1988, the benefit has been adjusted each year on October 1 to reflect the percentage of change in the Consumer Price Index.

The PSOB Program provides the same benefit to public

safety officers who have been permanently and totally

disabled by a catastrophic personal injury sustained in

the line of duty if that injury permanently prevents the

officer from performing any gainful work. Medical retirement, workman’s compensation, or social security

benefits for a line of duty disability do not, in and of

themselves, establish eligibility for PSOB benefits.

The PSOB Program also includes the Public Safety Officers’ Educational Assistance (PSOEA) Act. This Act

expands upon the former Federal Law Enforcement

Dependents Assistance Program to provide financial

assistance for higher education of the spouses and children of federal, state, and local public safety officers

permanently disabled or killed in the line of duty. The

educational assistance may be used to defray relevant

expenses, including tuition, room and board, books, supplies, and education-related fees. Please see the separate

PSOEA Program Fact Sheet for further information.

Since 1977, on average, the PSOB Program has received

275 benefit claims each year for line of duty deaths of

public safety officers. PSOB Program staff respond rapidly and with sensitivity to requests for assistance from

claimants and public safety agencies. They also provide

moral support and, when necessary, referrals to organizations such as Concerns of Police Survivors (COPS)

and the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF),

which can provide long-term support for surviving family members and coworkers of deceased public safety

officers.

PSOB Program Effective Dates

The effective dates for PSOB Program benefits are as follows:

Death Benefits

❑ State and local law enforcement officers and

firefighters are covered for line of duty deaths

occurring on or after September 29, 1976.

❑ Federal law enforcement officers and firefighters

are covered for line of duty deaths occurring on

or after October 12, 1984.

❑ Members of federal, state, and local public rescue

squads and ambulance crews are covered for line

of duty deaths occurring on or after October 15,

1986.

❑ Federal Emergency Management Agency

(FEMA) personnel and state, local, and tribal

emergency management and civil defense agency

employees are covered for deaths occurring on or

after October 30, 2000.

Disability Benefits

Federal, state, and local law enforcement officers,

firefighters, and members of public rescue squads and

ambulance crews are covered for catastrophic personal

injuries sustained on or after November 29, 1990. FEMA

personnel and state, local, and tribal emergency management and civil defense agency employees are covered for

such injuries sustained on or after October 30, 2000. The

public safety officer must be separated from his or her

employing agency for medical reasons, and must be receiving the maximum allowable disability compensation

from his or her jurisdiction, in order to initiate a claim for

PSOB disability benefits. Eligible officers may include

persons who are comatose, in a persistent vegetative

state, or quadriplegic.

Public Safety Officers Eligible for

PSOB Program Benefits

Under the PSOB Program, a public safety officer is a person serving a public agency in an official capacity, with

or without compensation, as a law enforcement officer,

firefighter, or member of a public rescue squad or ambulance crew. Law enforcement officers include, but are not

limited to, police, corrections, probation, parole, and judicial officers. Volunteer firefighters and members of volunteer rescue squads and ambulance crews are covered

under the program if they are officially recognized or

designated members of legally organized volunteer fire

departments, rescue squads, or ambulance crews.

In October 2000, Public Law 106–390 (Sec. 305) designated FEMA employees as public safety officers under

the PSOB Act if they are performing official, hazardous

duties related to a declared major disaster or emergency.
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The legislation also indicates that state, local, and tribal

emergency management or civil defense agency employees working in cooperation with FEMA are, under the

same circumstances, considered public safety officers

under the PSOB Act.

A public agency is defined as the United States; any

U.S. state; the District of Columbia; the Commonwealth

of Puerto Rico; any U.S. territory or possession; any unit

of local government; any combination of such states or

units; and any department, agency, or instrumentality of

the foregoing. To be eligible for benefits, a public safety

officer’s death or total and permanent disability must

result from injuries sustained in the line of duty. Line of

duty is defined in the PSOB regulations (28 C.F.R. 32)

as any action that the public safety officer whose primary function is crime control or reduction, enforcement of the criminal law, or suppression of fires is

authorized or obligated by law, rule, regulation, or condition of employment or service to perform. Other public safety officers—whose primary function is not law

enforcement or fire suppression—must be engaged in

their authorized law enforcement, fire suppression, rescue squad, or ambulance duties when the fatal or disabling injury is sustained.

Survivors Eligible for Program Death

Benefits

Once BJA approves a claim for death benefits, the benefit will be paid to eligible survivors in a lump sum, as

follows:

❑ If there are no surviving children of the deceased

officer, to the surviving spouse.

❑ If there is a surviving child or children and a

surviving spouse, one-half to the child or to the

children in equal shares and one-half to the

surviving spouse.

❑ If there is no surviving spouse, to the child or in

equal shares to the children.

❑ If none of the above apply, to the parent or in

equal shares to the parents.

Under the PSOB Act, child is defined as any natural

child who was born before or after the death of the public safety officer, or who is an adopted child or stepchild

of the deceased public safety officer. At the time of

death, the child must be 18 years of age or younger; or

19 through 22 years of age and pursuing a full-time

course of study or training, if the child has not already

completed 4 years of education beyond high school; or

19 years or older and incapable of self-support due to a

physical or mental disability.

For PSOB Program benefits to be paid, a public safety

officer must be survived by an eligible survivor; public

safety officers cannot predesignate their beneficiaries.

PSOB Program Limitations and

Exclusions

No PSOB Program benefit can be paid:

❑ If the death or permanent and total disability was

caused by the intentional misconduct of the

public safety officer or if the officer intended to

bring about his or her own death or permanent

and total disability.

❑ If the public safety officer was voluntarily

intoxicated at the time of death or permanent

and total disability.

❑ If the public safety officer was performing his or

her duties in a grossly negligent manner at the

time of death or permanent and total disability.

❑ To a claimant whose actions were a substantial

contributing factor to the death of the public

safety officer.

❑ To noncivilian members of the military serving as

law enforcement officers, firefighters, or rescue

squad or ambulance crew members, or to any of

their survivors.

PSOB benefits do not cover death or permanent and total disability resulting from stress; strain; occupational

illness; or a chronic, progressive, or congenital disease

(such as heart or pulmonary disease leading to a heart

attack), unless there is a traumatic injury that is a substantial contributing factor in the death or permanent

and total disability. Medical proof of the traumatic injury (such as a blood test for carbon monoxide poisoning) may be necessary for coverage in these cases.

Reduction of Benefits

The PSOB Program benefit is reduced by certain payments made under the District of Columbia Code and

may itself reduce benefits under Section 8191 of the federal Employees’ Compensation Act. However, state and

local benefits must not be reduced by benefits received

under the PSOB Act, and the PSOB benefit is not reduced by any benefit received at the state or local level.

Interim Payment

If BJA determines an urgent claimant need before the

final action of paying a death benefit, an interim benefit

payment not exceeding $3,000 may be made to the

eligible survivor(s) if it is probable that the death is

compensable.
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PRESORTED STANDARD

POSTAGE & FEES PAID

DOJ/BJA

PERMIT NO. G–91

Attachment and Tax Exemption

PSOB death and disability benefits are not subject to execution or attachment by creditors. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has ruled that the benefit is not

subject to federal income tax (IRS Ruling No. 77–235,

IRS 1977–28) or to federal estate tax (IRS Ruling No.

79–397).

Attorneys’ Fees

The PSOB Act authorizes BJA to establish the maximum fee that may be charged for services rendered to

the claimant by another party in connection with any

PSOB claim filed with BJA. Contracts for a stipulated

fee and contingent fee arrangements are prohibited by

PSOB regulations (28 C.F.R. 32.22(b)). BJA assumes

no responsibility for payment of claimant attorney fees

(28 C.F.R. 32.22(d)).

Filing a Claim

Eligible survivors or disability claimants may file

claims directly with BJA or through the public safety

agency, organization, or unit in which the public safety

officer served. In most cases, the public safety agency

provides BJA with sufficient information to determine

whether the circumstances of the death or permanent

and total disability support a benefit payment. The public safety agency prepares a Report of Public Safety

Officer’s Death or Permanent and Total Disability

Claim Form to accompany the claim for death benefits

completed by the eligible survivor(s) or, in the case of

disability claims, the prerequisite disability certification package completed by the injured officer. BJA

will determine whether and to whom a benefit should

be paid.

For Further Information

For more information about the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program or to share your observations

and recommendations, please contact:

U.S. Department of Justice Response Center

1–800–421–6770 or 202–307–1480

Response Center staff are available Monday through

Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. eastern time.

Bureau of Justice Assistance

Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program

810 Seventh Street NW.

Washington, DC 20531

202–307–0635

Toll Free: 1–888–SIGNL13 (744–6513)

Fax: 202–616–0314

World Wide Web: www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA

Bureau of Justice Assistance Clearinghouse

P.O. Box 6000

Rockville, MD 20849–6000

1–800–688–4252

World Wide Web: www.ncjrs.org

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Bureau of Justice Assistance

Washington, DC 20531

Official Business

Penalty for Private Use $300

Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program

Fact Sheet

FS000271

July 2001