Chauvin was identified as the officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes as Floyd begged him to stop–before the victim died while in police custody shortly thereafter.
In the wake of national protests, the former officer is currently being charged with second-degree murder, which was upgraded from the initial third-degree murder charge. Chauvin has also since been fired from the department where he has served since 2001.
Three other officers involved in the incident have also been fired and are facing lesser felony charges.
However, Chauvin would still benefit from Police and Fire (P&F) Fund, a state pension plan from the Public Employment Retirement Association (PERA) partially funded by taxpayer dollars. Created in 1959, the P&F Fund provides “retirement and other benefits for county and city public safety officers throughout Minnesota.”
State laws in Minnesota do not require felons to forfeit their pensions.
In fact, less than half of states revoke the pensions of public officials or employees if they are convicted of a felony. Other states have pension forfeiture laws in place that only cover certain crimes, such as crime involving embezzlement for pension commission funds or property in South Dakota.
An analysis–which evaluated Chauvin’s tenure, payroll data from the previous fiscal year, and department salary schedules–by CNN shows that the former officer would be eligible for benefits worth an estimated $50,000 per year once he reaches the age of retirement, which according to the P&F Fund Handbook is 55. Chauvin is currently 44-years-old.
PERA’s Executive Director Doug Anderson told Newsweek neither their board or staff have the discretion to deny or revoke member benefits.
“Changes would need to be done through the legislative process,” Anderson added.
Anti-police protesters across the country and the larger Black Lives Matter movement have advocated for defunding the police, which would include police pensions such as the one Chauvin benefits from.
On Saturday, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey clashed with protesters for his refused to commit to defunding the police.
“If we’re talking about massive cultural shift in the way our police department does business, I’m on board. If we’re talking about major structural reforms that pushes back on the horrid nature of how our police departments have treated black and brown communities, I am fully on board,” Frey told CNN host Chris Cuomo on Monday. “But if we’re talking about abolishing the entire police department, I was honest, that’s not where I am.”
