"Retired Public Safety officer" means an
individual who served and retired from public service by reason of disability
or attainment of normal retirement age with a public agency in an official
capacity as a law enforcement officer, as a firefighter, as a chaplain, or as a
member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew, as those terms are defined in
section 1204(9)(A) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968
which is codified in 42 U.
S. C. 3796b(8)(A) and as
interpreted from time to time by the Department of Justice.
1. The term "official capacity" means an
individual who served a public agency in an official capacity only if
a. he was officially authorized, recognized,
or designated by such agency as functionally within or part of it;
and
b. his acts and omissions,
while so serving, were legally those of such agency, which legally recognized
them as such.
2. The
term "law enforcement officer" means an individual who was involved in crime
and juvenile delinquency control or reduction, or enforcement of the criminal
laws (including juvenile delinquency), including, but not limited to police,
corrections, probations, parole and judicial officers.
a. The term "involved" means an individual
who was involved in crime (an act or omission punishable as a criminal
misdemeanor or felony) and juvenile delinquency control or reduction, or
enforcement of the criminal laws (including juvenile delinquency), only if he
was an officer of a public agency and, in that capacity, had legal authority
and responsibility to arrest, apprehend, prosecute, adjudicate, correct or
detain (in a prison or other detention or confinement facility), or supervise
(as a parole or probation officer), persons who were alleged or found to have
violated the criminal laws, and was recognized by such agency, or the relevant
government to have such authority and responsibility.
b. The term "criminal laws" means that body
of law that declares what acts or omissions are crimes and prescribes the
punishment that may be imposed for the same.
c. The term "correctional facility" means any
place for the confinement or rehabilitation of offenders or individuals charged
with or convicted of criminal offenses.
3. The term "firefighter" means an individual
who
a. Was trained in (i) suppression of fire;
or (ii) hazardous-materials emergency response; and
b. Had the legal authority and responsibility
to engage in the suppression of fire, as an employee of the public agency he
served, which legally recognized him to have such.
5. The
term "member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew" means an officially
recognized or designated public employee member of a rescue squad or ambulance
crew.
6. Examples of positions that
appear to be "Public Safety Officers," assuming the above conditions are met:
Police officer (including a member of the Mississippi Highway
Safety Patrol)
Firefighter
Chaplain of a police or fire department
Sheriff
Deputy Sheriff
Constable
Regular Member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew
Narcotics Agent
Department of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks Conservation
Officer
Department of Wildlife, Fisheries & Parks Game
Warden
Corrections Officer
Parole Officer
Department of Transportation Enforcement Officer
Department of Transportation Weight Enforcement
Officer
Forestry Commission Forest Ranger
Gaming Commission Enforcement Agent
Public Service Commission Regulated Carrier Enforcement
Officer
State Hospital Security Officer
University Police Officer
Tax Commission ABC Enforcement Agent
Tax Commission Scale Enforcement Officer
Judge whose responsibility it was to adjudicate criminal
matters
Attorneys whose responsibility it was to prosecute criminal
matters
