Inside Report for March 26, 2008

• By KIMBERLY VETTER
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Mar 26, 2008 - Page: 7B - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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When Baton Rouge police Officer Cpl. Mark Beck was killed in a car crash while driving home from an extra-duty job, he left a wife and two children to fend for themselves.

Cpl. Chris Metternich did the same when he died in a traffic accident last year at the intersection of South Sherwood Forest Boulevard and Newcastle Avenue.

And, although Terry Melancon wasn’t married with kids, he left his fiancée, parents and siblings without his support when he was shot and killed during a drug bust almost three years ago.

What sets these men apart from the other 15 Baton Rouge police officers who have died in the line of duty since 1911 is that their families either got more money from the state’s survivor benefits program or are eligible to apply for the increased benefit.

Prior to an amendment to Louisiana’s survivor benefit laws in 2006, the beneficiary of an officer killed in the line of duty could receive $150,000.

Now, the beneficiary can get double that amount if the Law Enforcement Officers and Firemen’s Survivor Benefit Review Board approves their request for the money.

State Rep. Hunter V. Greene, R-Baton Rouge, authored the legislation and said he did so because he believes law enforcement officers — in life and death — need to be recognized for their hard work.

“That amount will never replace what that family has lost,” he said. “But it’s something.”

And it compares well with survivor benefits offered across the country.

The only other states that offer a survivor benefit of $250,000 or more are Illinois and New Mexico, according to a summary of such benefits compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Alabama, Kentucky, Montana, North Carolina, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin only offer college tuition breaks to specified survivors, the summary says.

Most states, including Louisiana, provide some sort of college tuition break in addition to a lump sum and a portion of the fallen officer’s pension.

Kim Brooks, the Baton Rouge Police Department’s legal adviser, said Melancon’s family was the first to receive the increased benefit, Metternich’s family followed and Beck’s has applied.