The Wheels Are In Motion

Well, after two straight weeks of trying to contact the Personnel Department, I finally got in touch with someone. I am about to take the first step toward early retirement.

When I finally got through, there was one person working in the office. Apparently the Chinese Wuhan Virus decimated the employees downtown. The man I talked to was not someone familiar with the DROP (Deferred Retirement Option Plan), but he did point me in the right direction. I emailed the head of Police Personnel and her second-in-command, and shortly thereafter the second responded to my email.

The good news is I will be put on the waiting list. The bad news is two-fold. First, I will not receive the paperwork for ten to twelve weeks due to the massive amount of officers looking to leave. Second, they are not scheduling in-person interviews for the foreseeable future.

I’m not fully versed on the DROP Program, so I’ll try to wing it the best I can. When I sign up, my current salary will be frozen. I will have to work four more years at that frozen salary, and at the end of those four years, the pay I would have otherwise received – including raises, etc. – would be paid out in one lump sum.

An employee can pick any retirement date they choose – a guy in my squad picked his birthday to be his final day – but I need to work the full four years for the maximum payout. The DROP coordinators will give me specifics on the payout, and the monthly pay from my pension. Again, I don’t know enough about it to be more clear.

I likely won’t get the in-person interview/consultation for six months or so thanks to the Wuhan, but at least I can see the end to this tunnel. I am currently in my twenty-sixth year, and the extra four should have me out with thirty years total. I’ll be fifty-five years old.

Obviously, I’ll continue working after I leave the department, but I sincerely doubt the new enterprise will have anything to do with law enforcement. I’ve given this city thirty years of my life. That’s more than enough.