3 fired officers accuse Riverside of bias

The city of Riverside is trying to fire three of its police officers because they’re using license plates for disabled veterans on their personal vehicles despite having no apparent problems performing their jobs, the officers' attorney has claimed.

- By FEDOR ZARKHIN

Joel Castillo of Montclair cools off in Lytle Creek in the San Gabriel Mountains. Temperatures are expected to drop this weekend.

(ROBERT GAUTHIER, Los Angeles Times)

The department's logic for firing the officers, their attorney Matthew McNicholas said, was that they must have lied to the California Department of Motor Vehicles in order to obtain the specialized plates, which exempt drivers from paying registration fees and allow them to use disabled parking spots and park in metered spots for free.

That logic is broken, McNicholas said, because under federal law, to get a 100% disability rating — which each of the officers obtained — a veteran doesn’t have to be fully disabled. A veteran can get that disability status through a combination of partial disabilities, such as partial hearing loss, post-traumatic stress disorder or a back injury. To obtain plates for veterans rated as 100% disabled, a person must submit a certificate from a medical professional or a county, state or federal veterans’ agency confirming their disability.