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State: Calif. Young: Las Vegas Shooting's Aftermath: [2017-11-03] |
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Are California peace officers covered for injuries incurred while responding to crimes or assisting victims while they are off duty and out of state? That is now a big issue in light of the mass injuries in Las Vegas. According to news reports, there may have been more than 200 California police officers attending the Route 91 Harvest country music festival Oct. 1 in Las Vegas near the Mandalay Bay Hotel. It became a mass casualty event. Many of those officers attempted to assist victims of the shootings. Officers injured apparently include some from the counties of Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles. California Labor Code § 3600.2 says the following:
This provision does include the phrase “anywhere in this state,” but the argument is being made by some that the statute is ambiguous and that the officers injured in Las Vegas should be covered. It is easy to see that these situations could come up. It is not just events that occur in Las Vegas or Reno. For example, anyone who has been to South Lake Tahoe knows that amid all the hotels, bars and restaurants it is just a step into Nevada. At any given time there could be multiple peace officers on holiday in the area who might respond to an incident. If a California peace officer is in a Stateline, Nevada, casino and observes a shooter firing at individuals along the California-Nevada border, would we as a policy matter want to discourage him from tackling the shooter? We want to encourage peace officers to help in such situations, and clearly there are Californians who might benefit. It is quite possible that some of the Las Vegas claims will wind up at different Workers' Compensation Appeals Board district offices, with some being found compensable and some not, so the issue of the application of Labor Code § 3600.2 could go up to the WCAB and the appellate courts. A long, drawn-out battle over this issue is not what these brave individuals need. That’s why it was good to see that Assemblyman Tom Daly, D-Anaheim, plans to sponsor a legislative fix to make it clear that such peace officers should be covered. A quick search of the California Legislature website does not yet show any proposed bill, so it is unclear how the bill might address concerns over a retroactive fix or clarification of the law. Julius Young is a claimants' attorney for the Boxer & Gerson law firm in Oakland. This column was reprinted with his permission from his blog, www.workerscompzone.com. |