When law enforcement officers and other first responders die in the line of duty, it is perfectly appropriate for Mississippi to pay its respects and help out their survivors with a large cash payment.
We have doubts, though, about a plan being pushed by Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell to allow these $100,000 payments for officers and first responders who die from COVID-19. Legislative leaders are asking Gov. Tate Reeves to add this change to a special session they want called primarily to deal with legalizing medical marijuana.
It is sad for anyone to die from this virus. If the state, though, is going to use taxpayers’ money to express its condolences to just one certain class of victims, there should be certainty that the death was job-related. The fact is, such proof does not and will not exist.
Police officers or firefighters might think they became infected while on the job, but there is no way to prove that with an invisible, airborne virus. The infected person could have contracted the illness at home, at church or at a bar. The person’s poor personal choices, such as not getting vaccinated, could have created the risk that led to the fatal illness. COVID-19 could have been just one factor that when combined with other pre-existing health problems resulted in death.
We understand the desire to be compassionate, but dying of COVID-19 is not much different than dying from a lot of illnesses, including other contagious viruses. Giving this one special standing for financial compensation does not seem justified.
- The Greenwood Commonwealth
