I was a County Police Officer in Savannah,GA until April 11,2003. That day during a police operation,while in the process of preventing a suspect from running over another police officer and suspect who was being arrested at the rear of a suspect's vehicle I entered the suspect's vehicle in hopes of saving my fellow officer's life and the suspect's life who was being arrested by preventing one of the other suspect's from backing over them, after one of the other suspects who was still in the vehicle jumped under the steering wheel of suspect's vehicle in an attempt to flee the scene,I was knocked out and thrown from the suspect's vehicle which ran over my right leg as they fled the scene. My leg which was run over has had repeated surgeries to try to fix all of the problems from the incident.The other two suspects were later caught and admitted to knocking me out with a tire iron which was in the suspect's vehicle and throwing me out of the vehicle. Then In August 2004 I had to under go surgery to correct the problems with my leg, then I returned to duty in January 2005 and I was placed on light duty in the narcotics unit where I was able to handle several different positions without assistance,I even applied for several light duty positions which was advertised within the department,But the department refused to allow me to fill any of the vacanies, One position I applied for they refused to allow me to fill on the grounds that my disabilities would hinder me from operation a vehicle in a safe manner.then on July 15 2005 I was fired while on light duty and I was given termination paper work stating that I had been fired. but Major Talbort from the Savannah Chatham Metro Police Department sent falsified paperwork to the State of Georgia's Peace Officer's Training Council which certifies every police officer in the State of Georgia,saying I had voluntarily quit my job without any reason, she was never able to produce any paper work signed by me stating that I had quit.And when I started complaining about my termination, I was told by the City of Savannah that since I was a former Chatham County Employee prior to the merger between the City of Savannah Police Department and the Chatham County Police Department that it was up to Chatham County to provide any assistance I was entitled to,and Chatham County blamed the city but even though the merger agreement plainly stated that " all employees were to be treated as equals no matter what their former department was, I was fired due to my injuries while several former City Police Officers were allow to be medically retired, One of which was injured while off duty. And afew of those same officers who were medically retired stated to me that they could not understand why they were treated differently when my injuries were worse than theirs"One of these officers was even quoted in the Savannah News Press stating that he had been allow to retire after he was offered two positions one as a dispatcher and the other as a Community Service Specialist answering non emergency calls with the City of Savannah and when he refused them he was allow to retire because he could no longer wear a duty belt or his gun belt. Once this was found out,I was rehired as a civilian employee after nearly two years of being fired. I was recently told I would not ever be able to do police work,or any other type of work that calls for long walks,running,or long periods of standing on my feet. The county at this point is refusing to medically retire me and has put me in the narcotic's unit as a civilian employee, However with the new problems with my leg I am currently out on worker's comp again and Chatham County still refuses to medically retire me, but yet an employee who has been employed the same amount of time as I have can retire once he reached 55 years old.So for now I am stuck with collecting worker's comp benefits and for anyone who has ever been on workman's comp pay,you know it isn't nearly enough to get by on. While in this situation,most people would be medically retired, But when you work as a police officer in Chatham County,put your life on the line day after day,and get injured not only doing your job,protecting and serving the citizens,but saving your fellow officer's life,the county would rather fight than to do what is right. At this point,I was told by the doctor that I have developed RSD in my leg,as well as arthritis. I have also been ordered by the doctor not to lift more than ten pounds. I have three grandkids that I am not able to run around and play with like any grandparent would love to be able to do,so not only am I paying for what happened by dealing with my leg,but my grandkids have to live with it by having a grandfather that can not run around outside playing with them. I am also unable to do other things I used to love to do,like fishing(if it requires walking down any steep banks or standing for long periods of time),working on lawnmowers(unless I am sitting),and going back to work at the job that I have always loved doing. As of right now, I have been through nine surgeries,and the doctors say I am facing many more. I guess after 12-1/2 years,my service means nothing to the county, And while I had several sgts, lts, and at least 2 captains tell me that they know that I have been done wrong and that I need to sue both Chatham County and the City of Savannah, neither of them has got the guts to stand beside me out of fear of getting fired themselves.Well maybe if the elected officials who are in office right now 7/2007 are voted out of office then maybe something may change so I can receive the treatment I deserve.So I am asking anyone who reads this and who lives in the State of Georgia to write to your congress person, your senators the governor or anyone else you can think of and ask them to create a law in the State of Georgia that will protect officers such as I.And I also ask anyone who lives in Chatham County to cast your vote in the 2008 elections against the ones who are in office now.Because I and several of my friends have written to every county commissioner and city council person, the mayor, the Chatham County Manager, and both the City Manager and County Manager all to no avail.So, like I asked contact your elected officials and demand that there be a law created to help officers such as I in the future.And remember to vote the elected officials who are in office now out!** I now have a Spinal Cord Stimulator Implant that is suppose to help with the pain, and I have to take 5 different kinds of pain pills 4 times a day and a stronger one a bedtime that is supposed to help me sleep, but it does not work all of the time. The doctor also signed my medical retirement paper paper work but so far Chatham County has not approved it,and the officer that I mentioned earlier who was medically retired when I was fired has been rehired as a civilian employee and collect his retirement as well as his salary.And during the short time that I was able to return to work my supervisors openly stated to me that they felt sorry for me and knew that I was being treated unfairly but they could not help me because then they would be fired. A few of them even wrote letters to get me an electric cart so I could use it instead trying to walk because they saw how much pain I was in when I was trying to do my job.The captain in the unit even told me that he disagreed with how I am being treated by both the City of Savannah and Chatham County, and that they needed to do what is right and medically retire me.I am currently off work again by doctors orders, But Chatham County nor the City of Savannah Georgia will provide me with the medical retirement I deserve,But yet they will hire someone and let them retire with 11 years of serves because they have reached the age of 55. Mean while I am staying at home and taking 5 different kinds of pain medication, and I have a spinal cord stimulator implant to help control the pain. I can no longer enjoy the simple things in life that I use to enjoy like fishing,playing with my three grand children who can not understand why papa can not pick them up or play with them. I can not work on lawn mowers any more because it would require me to buy a lawn mower lift that costs $4,000.00 I try to take college courses on line but the pain meds prevent me from concentrating for long periods of time. I can no longer take care of my lawn, so I must rely on my wife to do that along with everything else.I can no longer work on lawn mowers at all,even with special lift, and I can not read a book nor enjoy a movie due to the pain that I suffer from. And sleep is getting to be something that is hard to do even while taking AmbainCR, So what is a man suppose to do when it seems like all the enjoyment is gone out of life? For those of you who reads this, you can keep your suggestions of me eating my gun like one butt wipe e-mailed and told me to do,to yourself cause I still love my family and I will not hurt them that way. So, you can eat your gun if you so desire.Or you can get a copy of all my paper work and take it with you to City Hall and Chatham County and ask them if they will or can explain to you why my retirement has been blocked.then maybe you can explain it to me. And for you police officers who are still working for the Savannah-Chatham Metro Police Department, The Savannah- Chatham Counter Narcotics Unit remember what has happen to me can and may happen to you, so instead of talking about an officer behind their back and making it sound like a fellow officer is faking or lying, ask yourself if an officer would under go as many operations as I have or been through what I have just for the attention or just to be retired early. Because I can tell it you that sure as HELL is not worth someone doing something so stupid, nor could they physically under go what I have if they were faking.So,if you want to help me let me know
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