Originally Posted by
Tartiflette Fan
I don't know if the police are the same as the armed forces* - although one might think they would be similar - but it is normal where police officers are likely to be convicted of a crime and go to prison, they will resign before conviction. I believe the reason for this is that the conviction somehow allows the Police Authority to reclaim the pension "contributions " they have made if the convicted person is still employed at this point, which would obviously have a major effect on the pension. How this works in practice, I don't know, because - unlike money-purchase schemes - they are not contributing 7% or 10% per month to your pension.
* EDIT: One major difference occurs to me is that a police officer can resign at any time, whereas, I believe, a serviceman would need permission to do so outside contracted dates of service.
My understanding is the Police have their pension contributions returned to them to invest in another pension on the open market, reason being the Police pension is more generous by reason of being in the Police. The system is set up such that is their only option, they can’t use as a lump sum etc unless they would be able to do so in the normal manner, over 55, up to 25%.