Two police officers who were forced to retire due to line of duty injuries are advocating for state legislation that would improve benefits for all Massachusetts public safety officers, including corrections officers and firefighters.
Former Somerville Detective Mario Oliveira and former Woburn Officer Robert DeNapoli testified in front of the Joint Committee on Public Service at the State House on Tuesday. “There were days that I sat on my bed staring at my walls thinking: ‘I should have died. I should have died. My family would have been better off,'" Oliveira said.
Oliveira nearly died in 2010 after he was shot multiple times at nearly point blank range while he was on the job. He said he went back to work eight months later because the bills were piling up, only to suffer a major heart attack.
"That put me out for good," Oliveira said.